The Ring (franchise)

Ring
Created by	Koji Suzuki
Original work	Ring (1991)
Owners	Kadokawa Corporation (most media) Paramount Pictures (American films)
Years	1991-present
Print publications
Novel(s)	Ring (1991) Spiral (1995) Loop (1998) Birthday (1999) S (2012) Tide (2013)
Comics	Ring (1996) Ring – Volume 1 (1999) Ring – Volume 2 (1999) Ring 2 (1999) Spiral (1999) Birthday (1999) Ring 0: Birthday (2000) Sadako-san and Sadako-chan (2019) Sadako at the End of the World (2020)
Films and television
Film(s)	Ring (1995) Ring (1998) Spiral (1998) Ring 2 (1999) The Ring Virus (1999) Ring 0: Birthday (2000) The Ring (2002) The Ring Two (2005) Sadako 3D (2012) Sadako 3D 2 (2013) Sadako vs. Kayako (2016) Rings (2017) Sadako (2019) Sadako DX (2022)
Short film(s)	Rings (2005)
Television series	Ring: The Final Chapter (1999) Spiral (1999)
Games
Video game(s)	The Ring: Terror's Realm (2000) Ring: Infinity (2000)
Audio
Radio program(s)	Ring (1996) Birthday (2000) Ring (2015)
Soundtrack(s)	Ring / Rasen (1998) Ring 2 (1999) Ring: The Final Chapter (1999) The Ring Virus (1999) Rasen (1999) Ring 0: Birthday (2000) The Ring / The Ring Two (2005) Rings (2017)

Ring (Japanese: リング, romanized: Ringu), also known as The Ring, is a media franchise, based on the novel series of the same name written by Koji Suzuki. The franchise includes eight Japanese films, two television series, eight manga adaptations, three English-language American film remakes, a Korean film remake, and two video games: The Ring: Terror's Realm and Ring: Infinity (both 2000). While most installments of the franchise are dramatic supernatural horror fiction, other genres are also explored with the novel Loop (1998) being science fiction-focused, and the manga series Sadako-san and Sadako-chan (2019) and Sadako at the End of the World (2020) and feature film Sadako DX (2022) being comedy-focused.

The Ring films revolve around a cursed video tape; whoever watches the tape dies seven days later, unless the tape is copied and shown to another person, who then must repeat the same process. The video tape was created by a psychic, Sadako Yamamura, who was murdered by her adoptive father and thrown into a well. After her supposed death, she returned as a ghostly malicious serial killer, killing anyone who fails to copy and then send the video tape to someone else under a seven-day deadline (constricted to a two-day deadline in Sadako vs. Kayako and a one-day deadline in Sadako DX).

The franchise began with Koji Suzuki's 1991 novel Ring. It was the first of a trilogy, with two sequels: Spiral (1995) and Loop (1998).^[1] Several later novels based on Ring were released: Birthday (1999) (which contains a prequel to Ring, an epilogue to Loop, and details about what happened to a key character in Spiral), S (2012), and Tide (2013).

In 1998, Hideo Nakata made a new Japanese adaptation of the book in his film Ring (also known as The Ring or Ringu). The film was a critical and commercial success, being credited with revolutionizing the J-horror genre and influencing many future films in the wider horror genre.^[2][3][4]

The first sequel to the 1998 film was Rasen (also known as The Spiral or simply Spiral). It was an adaptation of Spiral, Suzuki's sequel to his first Ring book. It was released on 31 January 1998, the same day as Ring. It was a critical and commercial failure compared with the first film. It was directed by George Iida, who had previously worked as the writer for the television film, Ring (1995).

A new sequel, Ring 2, was released in 1999. The film continues the storyline of Ring (1998) and ignores the events of Spiral (1998) and many cast members from the original film return. Hideo Nakata also returned to direct. This was the first film in the franchise not based on any of Suzuki's novels. While not as critically well-received as the first film, it was a financial success, becoming the second-highest grossing Japanese film of 1999.^[5] It was created to be a replacement sequel for Ring, as the actual sequel Rasen was a box office bomb.

A prequel, Ring 0: Birthday, was released in 2000. The movie is based on the short story "Lemon Heart" from Suzuki's 1999 book, Birthday (the fourth book in the series). This film delved into a uniquely different mythos surrounding Sadako Yamamura and the cursed videotape than the novels, elaborated on from aspects introduced in the Nakata films.

In 2012, Sadako 3D was released, adapted from Suzuki's book S that released the same year. A direct sequel, Sadako 3D 2 was released in 2013. Both were directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa. They are sequels to Rasen/Spiral, ignoring the film Ring 2 thereby creating a branched-off continuity.

In 2016, Sadako vs. Kayako, directed by Kōji Shiraishi, was released, a crossover of the Ju-on series of horror films. It features Sadakaya, a ghost that resulted from the fusion of Sadako and the Ju-on antagonist Kayako Saeki. It is a standalone film and is not canon to either timeline or franchise and the deadline for the video tape is two days instead of seven.

Sadako aka Sadako KOL was released in 2019. It saw the return of director Hideo Nakata to the Japanese film series for the first time since Ring 2, 20 years prior. It is a sequel to Ring 2 following its own continuity separate from Rasen. The film is loosely based on Tide, the final novel in the series. KOL is an acronym for Key Opinion Leader; in this context, a social media star.

Sadako DX, directed by Hisashi Kimura, was released in 2022.^[6][7] The film stars Fuka Koshiba as a college student attempting to unravel the curse of Sadako with the help of a psychic and a fortune teller.^[8] It is another sequel to Rasen/Spiral following Sadako 3D and Sadako 3D 2.

The first adaption of Ring was the Japanese television film Ring (with one unedited home video release titled Ring: Kanzenban, meaning 'Ring: The Complete Edition'), released in 1995. This remained the closest to the book but didn't have the success and recognition of the later films.

Ring: The Final Chapter is a 12 episode self-contained miniseries that aired in 1999, and is loosely based on the original Ring novel. It is not connected to the films or the previous television adaptation.

In the same year, a sequel television miniseries titled Rasen was made, consisting of 13 episodes.

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	North American release date	North American ISBN
01	December 22, 1999	978-4048531610	November 16, 2004	—

A manga adaptation of the first novel was released in 1996 by Kouhirou Nagai,^[9] and several manga have been published by Kadokawa Shoten based on the films. The second manga adaptation is a two-volume series based on the first novel, the first Hideo Nakata film, and the 1999 television series. That manga was written and illustrated by Misao Inagaki. Both volumes were released on January 21, 1999.^[10][11] Dark Horse Comics compiled the first two volumes and released an english-language version on November 12, 2003.^[12]

The third adaptation, of Nakata's Ring 2 film, was written by Hiroshi Takahashi and illustrated by Meimu, was released on February 3, 1999.^[13] Dark Horse Comics released it on May 19, 2004 as the second volume of The Ring manga series.^[14]

The fourth adaptation, titled Spiral (らせん, Rasen), is based on the novel and film of the same name. The manga was written by Koji Suzuki, illustrated by Sakura Mizuki, and released on September 10, 1999.^[15] Dark Horse released it on August 18, 2004 as volume 3 of The Ring manga series.^[16]

The fifth adaptation, titled Birthday (バースデイ, Bāsudei), is based on the novel of the same name. The manga was written by Koji Suzuki, illustrated by Meimu and released on December 22, 1999.^[17] Dark Horse Comics released it on November 3, 2004 as volume 4 of The Ring manga series.^[18]

The sixth, named Ring 0, based on the film of that name, was also written by Hiroshi Takahashi and illustrated by Meimu, and released on January 28, 2000.^[19] Dark Horse Comics released it on March 30, 2005 as "Volume 0" of The Ring manga series.^[20]

The seventh, named Sadako-san and Sadako-chan, was published in February 2019, before the release of Sadako, as a comedy-oriented tie-in sequel to the film.^[21]

The eighth, named Sadako at the End of the World, was released in 2020, following Sadako as she is summoned by the last two girls living on a post-apocalyptic Earth, indicating her curse to be nearing its end.

The Ring

1995	Ring: Kanzenban
1996–1997
1998	Ring
	Spiral
1999	Ring 2
	Ring: The Final Chapter
	The Ring Virus (Korean remake)
	Rasen (TV series)
2000	Ring 0: Birthday
2001
2002	The Ring
2003–2004
2005	The Ring Two
2006–2011
2012	Sadako 3D
2013	Sadako 3D 2
2014–2015
2016	Sadako vs. Kayako
2017	Rings
2018
2019	Sadako
2020–2021
2022	Sadako DX

The Ring Virus was the first remake to be made, in 1999, where the villain is renamed as Park Eun-suh, who is intersex, as Sadako was in the books. Though the film copied multiple scenes from Ring, it is, like Ring: Kanzenban, very faithful to the original novel series.

In 2002, an English-language remake was made, titled The Ring, where the killer is renamed as Samara Morgan, who is a preteen instead of an adult. The Ring was one of the highest-grossing horror remakes, its box office gross surpassing that of Ring. Two sequels were made, including a short film.

The Ring was released on October 18, 2002. The film follows journalist Rachel Keller as she investigates a videotape that may have killed four teenagers (including her niece). There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. If the legend is correct, Rachel would have to run against time to save her son's and her own.

A short film, Rings, was released on March 8, 2005, originally as part of the DVD set of the first film. Jake Pierce, a young teenager, watches a cursed video tape after joining a teen cult named "Rings".

The Ring Two was released on March 18, 2005. High school student Jake Pierce tries to make his girlfriend Emily watch the cursed videotape. After discovering that Emily covered her eyes and didn't watch the tape, he is killed by Samara Morgan. Rachel Keller learns of Jake's death and realizes she has to save her son Aidan from Samara.

Rings was released on February 3, 2017. The story follows Julia who becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after they view the tape. Her actions lead her to make a horrifying discovery: there is a "movie within the movie" that no one has ever seen before.

In September 2019, The Grudge director Nicolas Pesce expressed interest in a crossover film between The Grudge and the English-language The Ring film series.^[22]

Key

• A ^Y indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
• A ^P indicates the actor or actress portrayed their film character as possessed by another.
• An ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage.
• A ^C indicates a cameo appearance.

• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Character	Ring	Spiral	Ring 2	Ring 0: Birthday	Sadako 3D	Sadako 3D 2	Sadako	Sadako DX
	1998		1999	2000	2012	2013	2019	2022
Sadako Yamamura mysterious girl	Rie Inō	Hinako Saeki Miki NakataniP	Rie Inō Mebuki TsuchidaY	Yukie Nakama	Ai Hashimoto	Satomi IshiharaP	Himeka Himejima	Computer-generated imagery
Shizuko Yamamura	Masako	MasakoA	Masako
Mai Takano	Miki Nakatani
Dr. Heihachiro Ikuma	Daisuke Ban			Daisuke Ban
Takashi Yamamura	Yoichi Numata		Yoichi Numata	Mahito Ohba
Reiko Asakawa	Nanako Matsushima	Nanako MatsushimaA	Nanako Matsushima
Ryuji Takayama	Hiroyuki Sanada
Masami Kurahashi	Hitomi Satō		Hitomi Satō				Hitomi Satō
Yoichi Asakawa	Rikiya Otaka	Rikiya OtakaM	Rikiya Otaka
Okazaki	Yūrei Yanagi		Yūrei Yanagi
Takanori Ando		Ryûichi SugaharaY			Koji Seto
Akane Ayukawa					Satomi Ishihara Yuna TairaY	Satomi Ishihara
Seiji Kashiwada					Yusuke Yamamoto
Detective Yugo Koiso					Ryosei Tayama
Tomoko Ōishi	Yūko Takeuchi
Yoshino	Yutaka Matsushige
Kōichi Asakawa	Katsumi Muramatsu	Katsumu MuramatsuM
Mitsuo Ando		Koichi Sato
Miyashita		Shingo Tsurumi
Shashin Gakari		Kozo Sato
Department Store Manager		Kôji SuzukiC
Kanae Sawaguchi			Kyoko Fukada
Ishi Kawajiri			Fumiyo Kohinata
Detective Keiji Omuta			Kenjirō Ishimaru
Hiroshi Toyama				Seiichi Tanabe
Etsuko Tachihara				Kumiko Asō
Kaoru Arima				Atsuko Takahata
Akiko Miyaji				Yoshiko Tanaka
Enoki					Shota Sometani
Fuko Ando						Miori Takimoto
Fumika Kamimura						Itsumi Osawa
Mayu Akikawa							Elaiza Ikeda
Yusuke Ishida							Takashi Tsukamoto
Hatsuko Sobue							Rie Tomosaka
Ayaka Ichijō								Fuka Koshiba
Oji Maeda								Kazuma Kawamura
Kenshin								Hiroyuki Ikeuchi

Crew/Detail	Ring	Spiral	Ring 2	Ring 0: Birthday	Sadako 3D	Sadako 3D 2	Sadako	Sadako DX
	1998		1999	2000	2012	2013	2019	2022
Director	Hideo Nakata	George Lida	Hideo Nakata	Norio Tsuruta	Tsutomu Hanabusa		Hideo Nakata	Hisashi Kimura
Producer(s)	Shinya Kawai Taka Ichise Takenori Sento	Takashige Ichise Shinya Kawai Takenori Sento	Takashige Ichise Shin Ishihara	Shinji Ogawa Masao Nagai Takasige Ichise	Atsuyuki Shimoda	Reiko Imayasu
Writer(s)	Screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi Based on Ring by Koji Suzuki	Screenplay by George Lida Based on Spiral by Koji Suzuki	Story by Koji Suzuku	Screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi Based on Lemon Heart from Birthday by Koji Suzuki	Screenplay by Koji Suzuku Tsutomu Takahashi Based on S by Koji Suzuki	Screenplay by Daisuke Hosaka Noriaki Sugihara Based on S by Koji Suzuki	Screenplay by Noriaki Sugihara Based on Tide by Koji Suzuki	Screenplay by Yuya Takahashi
Composer	Kenji Kawai	La Finca	Kenji Kawai	Shinichiro Ogata	Kenji Kawai
Cinematographer	Junichiro Hayashi	Makoto Watanabe	Hideo Yamamoto	Takahide Shibanushi	Nobushige Fujimoto
Editor(s)	Nobuyuki Takahashi	Hirohibe Abe	Nobuyuki Takahashi	Hiroshi Sunaga
Production companies	Ring/Spiral Production Committee		Asmik Ace Entertainment	Ring 0 Production Group Production	Kadokawa Shoten	Tohokushinsha Film	Kadokawa
Distributor	Toho				Kadokawa Shoten		Kadokawa
Release date	January 31, 1998		January 23, 1999	January 22, 2000	May 12, 2012	August 30, 2013	March 24, 2019	October 28, 2022
Running time	95 minutes	98 minutes	95 minutes	99 minutes	96 minutes	96 minutes	99 minutes	TBD

Key

• A ^Y indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
• A ^V indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
• A ^P indicates the actor or actress portrayed their film character as possessed by another.
• An ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage.
• A ^C indicates a cameo appearance.

• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Characters	Main films				Short film
	The Ring	The Ring Two		Rings	Rings
	2002	2005		2017	2005
Samara Morgan	Daveigh Chase	Daveigh ChaseA			Kelly Stables
		David DorfmanP	Bonnie Morgan
	Kelly Stables		Kelly Stables	Zoe PessinV Matilda LutzP
		Caitlin MavromatesY
Anna Morgan	Shannon Cochran	Shannon CochranA
Rachel Keller	Naomi Watts				Naomi WattsM
Aidan Keller	David Dorfman
Noah Clay	Martin Henderson
Richard Morgan	Brian Cox
Ruth Embry	Lindsay Frost
Katherine "Katie" Embry	Amber Tamblyn
Rebecca "Becca" Kotler	Rachael Bella
Evelyn Borden (née Osorio)		Sissy Spacek Mary Elizabeth WinsteadY		Kayli Carter
Jake Pierce		Ryan Merriman			Ryan Merriman
Emily		Emily VanCamp			Emily VanCamp
Eddie		Justin AllenVC			Justin Allen
Max Rourke		Simon Baker
Dr. Emma Temple		Elizabeth Perkins
Galen Burke				Vincent D'Onofrio
Julia				Matilda Lutz
Holt Anthony				Alex Roe
Gabriel Brown				Johnny Galecki
Skye Johnston				Aimee Teegarden
Carter				Zach Roerig
Faith				Laura Slade Wiggins
Kelly				Lizzie Brocheré
Vanessa					Alexandra Breckenridge
Timothy "Tim" Rivers					Josh Wise

Crew/Detail	Main films			Short film
	The Ring	The Ring Two	Rings	Rings
	2002	2005	2017	2005
Director	Gore Verbinski	Hideo Nakata	F. Javier Gutiérrez	Jonathan Liebesman
Producer(s)	Walter F. Parkes Laurie MacDonald			Jeanette Volturno Arnon Manor
Writer(s)	Screenplay by Ehren Kruger Based on Ring by Koji Suzuki	Ehren Kruger	Screenplay by David Loucka Jacob Aaron Estes Akiva Goldsman Story by David Loucka Jacob Aaron Estes Based on Spiral by Koji Suzuki	Screenplay by Ehren Kruger Story by Jonathan Liebesman
Composer	Hans Zimmer	Henning Lohner Martin Tillman	Matthew Margeson	Hans Zimmer
Director of photography	Bojan Bazelli	Gabriel Beristain	Sharone Meir	Lukas Ettlin
Editor(s)	Craig Wood	Michael N. Knue	Jeremiah O'Driscoll Steve Mirkovich	Sheila Moreland
Production companies	BenderSpink Parkes/MacDonald Productions		Parkes/MacDonald + Imagenatation Vertigo Entertainment	BenderSpink Parkes/MacDonald Productions
Distributor	DreamWorks Pictures		Paramount Pictures	DreamWorks Pictures
Release date	October 18, 2002	March 18, 2005	February 3, 2017	March 8, 2005
Running time	115 minutes	110 minutes	102 minutes	17 minutes

The original 1991 novel Ring sold 500,000 copies by January 1998, and 1.5 million copies by July 2000.^[1]

Japanese films

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget
		Japan	South Korea	Other territories
Ring	January 31, 1998	¥1,700,000,000[23]	₩341,970,000[24][25]	$6,261,738[a]	$1.5 million[1]
Rasen (Spiral)	January 31, 1998	¥1,700,000,000[23]	₩25,482,000[32][33]	—	?
Ring 2	January 23, 1999	¥3,570,000,000[23]	₩771,180,000[32][33]	$117,493[34][28][29]
Ring 0: Birthday	January 22, 2000	¥1,600,000,000[35]	₩40,642,000[32][36]	—
Sadako 3D	May 12, 2012	¥1,350,000,000[37]	₩1,128,635,032[32]	$3,486,438[b]
Sadako 3D 2	August 30, 2013	¥688,494,993[40]	₩92,668,200[32]	$1,375,682[41]
Sadako vs. Kayako	June 18, 2016	¥1,000,000,000[42]	₩202,716,000[32]	$704,922[43]
Sadako	May 24, 2019	¥164,000,000[44]	—	—
Regional total		¥11,772,494,993 ($142,079,440)	₩2,603,293,232 ($2,367,292)	$11,946,273	$1.5 million+
Worldwide total		$156,495,481

American films

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget	Ref.
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
The Ring	October 18, 2002	$129,128,133	$120,220,800	$249,348,933	$48 million	[45]
The Ring Two	March 18, 2005	$76,231,249	$87,764,700	$163,995,949	$50 million	[46]
Rings	February 3, 2017	$27,793,018	$55,287,872	$83,080,890	$25 million	[47]
Total		$233,152,400	$263,273,372	$496,425,772	$123 million	[48]

South Korean film

Film	Release date	Box office gross (South Korea)	Budget
The Ring Virus	June 12, 1999	₩1,994,124,000[32][25] ($1,689,326)[29]	?

Total

Japanese films	American films	South Korean film	Box office total
$156,495,481	$496,425,772	$1,689,326	$654,610,579

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore[49]
Ring	98% (43 reviews)[50]	—	—
Ring 2	0% (13 reviews)[51]	—	—
The Ring	71% (209 reviews)[52]	57 (36 reviews)[53]	B−
The Ring Two	21% (188 reviews)[54]	44 (37 reviews)[55]	C+
Sadako vs. Kayako	50% (22 reviews)[56]	—	—
Rings	8% (116 reviews)[57]	25 (23 reviews)[58]	C−
Sadako	23% (26 reviews)[59]	—	—

In his review of Sadako (2019), the film critic and psychoanalyst Pieter-Jan Van Haecke remarked that while Sadako does not work as a horror film, the atmospheric tension that marks the films turn the film into an enjoyable experience.

In 2015, Hikiko-san vs Sadako (or simply Hikiko vs Sadako), directed by Nagaoka Hisaaki was released. While the DVD cover features a character resembling Sadako emerging from a well, the character in the film is named Sadako Takamura.^[60]

In 2016 and 2017, Bunshinsaba vs. Sadako and Bunshinsaba vs Sadako 2, both directed by River Huang, a crossover with the Bunshinsaba film series, were released. In 2021, the third film in the series, formerly known as Bunshinsaba vs Sadako 3, was renamed Bunshinsaba: Hoichi the Earless (because of the addition of Kuman thong to the Chinese Bunshinsaba series' star Bixian the Pen Fairy and Sakado). It, too, was directed by River Huang.

The Return of Sadako,^[c] released in 2018, was the first stand-alone Chinese Ring film to be made following the crossover film Bunshinaba vs. Sadako in 2016; produced by Scarecrow Pictures, the film's killers are renamed as sisters Sadako and Kawako, who flee to China alongside their father after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, before turning against one another for the love of a Japanese boy; years later a projector is discovered in their house with their souls imprinted upon it. Though the film was marketed as an unofficial sequel to Sadako 3D 2, it is in-fact a remake.

Sadako: Pendant of Mourning is scheduled to be released on Amazon Prime Video on September 13, 2024.^[61]