So the major piece of news and perhaps the most significant update for the month of May I wanted to discuss, is the confirmation that there is a very high probability that the hit historical tv show Shogun will be coming back for not only a second season but a third one as well. It has been confirmed that Hiroyuki Sanada has agreed to reprise his role as Lord Toranaga for the series and he will be returning as a producer for the show as well. Alongside Toranaga, the original showrunners and writers for the series Justin Marks, Rachel Kondo and Michaela Clavell will all be returning for this continuation of the Shogun series. For those of you who may not be aware Michaela Clavell is the daughter of James Clavell the author of the Shogun novel which the series is based off of. So having onboard as a producer for the team really helps to ensure that the future of Shogun will be something that James Clavell would have approved of. However, there is no other solid details confirmed at this point but it is safe to assume that the battle of Sekhighara will be a pivotal point of focus for the next series. But as I find out more updates about the future of Shogun I’ll be sure to keep you updated through new videos and my newsletters.
Barbarians Season 3 Has Been Cancelled
The second important piece of information I uncovered this month is confirmation that there will be no season 3 of Barbarians and that the historical series has been quietly cancelled by Netflix. Based on information I have been able to gather from the whats on netflix website and according to the website after reaching out to Netflix for an update on season 3 of barbarians. Netflix has confirmed that Barbarians has not been cancelled but the production of the show has concluded and that the show has not been picked up for a third season. I am unsure what Netflix hopes to achieve by stating that Barbarians has been concluded and not renewed rather than just outright saying it has been cancelled, as it evident by the big cliffhanger at the end of season 2 that this is not how Netflix planned to conclude the series. I believe Netflix is just trying to save face here and not try to bring extra attention to the fact that another Netflix series has been cancelled prematurely. Additionally, Barbarians star Laurence Rupp who plays the role of Arminius in the series has also confirmed on Instagram “that unfortunately there will be no third season of barbarians soon”.
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So if even the star of Barbarians has not had any news on a third season of Netflix’s original series then it is safe to assume that Barbarians has been cancelled and quietly pushed under the rug, so Netflix does not have to consider why another series that had so much potential has been ruined and spurned by audiences.
The Chosen Season 4 Release Schedule Confirmed
After a very long wait and many delays we finally have confirmation of when the fourth season of The Chosen will be getting released for worldwide streaming and at absolutely no cost to the viewer. It has been confirmed that The Chosen season 4 will start streaming on Sunday June 2nd and the second episode will get released on Thursday June 6th. This biblical series will be releasing exclusively to The Chosen app which is available to download for free on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, iOS and Android devices. The fourth season of The Chosen will be getting released to major streaming platforms later on down the road but the dates and timelines of when this may occur is still unclear.
The synopsis for The Chosen season 4 is as follows:
“Clashing kingdoms. Rival rulers. The enemies of Jesus close in while His followers struggle to keep up, leaving Him to carry the burden alone. Threatened by the reality of Jesus’ growing influence, religious leaders do the unthinkable — ally with their Roman oppressors. As the seeds of betrayal are planted and opposition to Jesus’ message turns violent, He’s left with no alternative but demand his followers rise up.”
Early reviews for The Chosen season 4 have been great and the synopsis for the season sounds absolutely enthralling as well and I can’t wait to start streaming the latest season of The Chosen on June 2nd using The Chosen app.
Some historical classics will be getting reintroduced to modern audiences
With the popularity of the new Shogun series and the fact that it broke many records for the Disney Plus and Hulu platforms, it was bound to only be a matter of time before a streaming platform would pick up the original 1980s Shogun series for its library. This 6 episode mini series will be available to stream from May 22 till the end of the year exclusively on Paramount+ and if you haven’t watched this classic historical series yet, then I highly recommend you add the original Shogun series to your watch list as soon as possible.
With the hype for historical movies being at an all time high thanks to the success of Oppenheimer, one of the best movies of the golden age of historical films is making a return to cinemas across the US this summer. If you live in certain states in the US then you will be glad to know that the Lawrence of Arabia film will be getting released to select cinemas on August 11 and August 12. So if you would like to enjoy one of the best historical movies ever created on the biggest screen you can find then use this link to reserve your seats.
Updates on potentially the best new historical tv show of 2024
Lastly, I would like to share some details on an exciting new upcoming historical tv series that will be getting released in just a couple of months time. This new limited series is called Those About to Die and it will be set in Ancient Rome one of the most fascinating and interesting historical backdrops in my opinion. This new historical show will be a 10 episode mini series which will be getting released to peacock in the US and Amazon Prime Video in the UK. I will be making an indepth video about everything we know so far about Those About to Die on my Youtube channel so make sure your subscribed to HistorySpark so you can know when that video gets released. But the basic premise of the plot is that Emperor Vespasian wants to solidify his power and decides this achieve this goal by building the colosseum and using gladiators to make himself a beloved figure with the Roman populace. This series will star the legendary Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian and he has stated that the script is what convinced him to sign up for the show, so I cant wait to see what this series has in store for us, so be sure to checkout Those About to Die when it gets released to Amazon Prime and Peacock on July 18 2024!
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