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/Spiral (1998) Ring 2 (1999) Ring: The Final Chapter (1999) The Ring Virus (1999) Spiral (1999) Ring 0: Birthday (2000) The Ring/The Ring Two (2005) Rings (2017)

Ring (Japanese:リング,romanized: Ringu), also known asThe Ring, is amedia franchise, based on thenovel series of the same name written byKoji Suzuki. The franchise includes nineJapanese films, two television series, eightmanga adaptations, three English-languageAmerican filmremakes, a Korean film remake, and two video games:The Ring: Terror's Realm andRing: Infinity (both 2000). While most installments of the franchise aredramaticsupernatural horrorfiction, other genres are also explored, with the novelLoop (1998) beingscience fiction–focused, and the manga seriesSadako-san and Sadako-chan (2019) andSadako at the End of the World (2020) and feature filmSadako DX (2022) beingcomedy-focused.

The JapaneseRing films revolve around a cursedvideo 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 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 inSadako vs. Kayako and a one-day deadline inSadako DX).

The franchise began withKoji Suzuki's 1991 novelRing. It was the first of a trilogy, with two sequels:Spiral (1995) andLoop (1998).^[1] Several later novels based onRing were released:Birthday (1999); which contains a prequel toRing, an epilogue toLoop, and details about what happened to a key character inSpiral,S (2012), andTide (2013).

In 1998,Hideo Nakata made a new Japanese adaptation of the book in his filmRing (also known asThe Ring or itstransliterationRingu). 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 wasRasen (also known asThe Spiral or simplySpiral). It was an adaptation ofSpiral, Suzuki's sequel to his firstRing book. It was released on 31 January 1998, the same day asRing. It was not received well by critics or audiences. It was directed by George Iida, who had previously worked as the writer for the television film,Ring (1995).

A replacement sequel,Ring 2, was released in 1999. The film continues the storyline ofRing (1998) and ignores the events ofSpiral (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]

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 surroundingSadako 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 bookS that released the same year. A direct sequel,Sadako 3D 2 was released in 2013. Both were directed byTsutomu Hanabusa. They are sequels toRasen/Spiral, ignoring the filmRing 2 thereby creating a branched-off continuity.

In 2016,Sadako vs. Kayako, directed byKōji Shiraishi, was released, a crossover of theJu-on series of horror films. It features Sadakaya, a ghost that resulted from the fusion of Sadako and theJu-on antagonistKayako 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 akaSadako KOL was released in 2019. It saw the return of director Hideo Nakata to the Japanese film series for the first time sinceRing 2, 20 years prior. It is a sequel toRing 2 following its own continuity separate fromRasen. The film is loosely based onTide, the final novel in the series.KOL is an acronym for Key Opinion Leader; in this context, a social media star.

Sadako DX, directed byHisashi Kimura, was released in 2022.^[6][7] The film starsFuka 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 a sequel to the originalRing, ignoring the events of theSpiral andRing 2 timelines respectively.

The first adaption ofRing was the Japanese television filmRing (with one uncensored home video release titledRing: 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 originalRing novel. It is not connected to the films or the previous television adaptation.

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

A manga adaptation of the first novel was released in 1996 by Kouhirou Nagai,^[9] and several manga have been published byKadokawa 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'sRing 2 film, was written and by illustrated byMeimu, was released on February 3, 1999.^[13] Dark Horse Comics released it on May 19, 2004 as the second volume ofThe Ring manga series.^[14]

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

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

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

There was also the manga prequel to this adaptation, titledThe Curse of Yamamura Sadako (The Curse of Sadako Yamamura), included in theRing 0 promotional image book "The Sadako", that explains how Sadako split into the good and evil halves beforeRing 0.

The seventh, titledSadako-San To Sadako-Chan (Sadako-San and Sadako-Chan), was published in February 2019, before the release ofSadako, as acomedy-orientedtie-in sequel to the film.^[21]

The eighth, titledSadako 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 Virus was the first remake to be made, in 1999, where the villain is renamed as Park Eun-suh, who isintersex, as Sadako was in the books. Though the film copied multiple scenes from the 1998 theatricalRing film, it is, like the 1995Ring TV movie, more faithful to the original novel series.

In 2002, an English-language remake was made, titledThe 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 ofRing. Two feature-length sequels were made, as well as a short film.

The Ring was released on October 18, 2002. The film follows journalistRachel 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 bySamara 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. This is an alternate sequel and ignores the events of the shortRings andThe Ring Two.

In September 2019,The Grudge directorNicolas Pesce expressed interest in acrossover film betweenThe Grudge and the English-languageThe 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 acameo appearance.

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

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 acameo appearance.

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

The novel as adapted by the Japanese radio stationTBS as a radio drama in 1996 with significant changes such as Kazuyuki Asakawa becoming a radio DJ named Toru Asakawa, Ryuji becoming his female love interest Ryouko, Tomoko (one of the first four victims) becoming the only victim, Toru's radio colleague Tomokazu, Sadako's well being under the radio station, and Sadako wanting to use the Internet to spread himself and offering Toru to bring back into life his deceased daughter if he helps her, thus combing elements ofRasen into the story. This adaptation later got two different CD releases.

The novel was also adapted by the BBC into an hour-long radio drama as part of theirFright Night series, and starred Naoko Mori as Sadako. In this rendition, the counterpart of Kazayuki is instead named Mitchell Hooper and is portrayed as a British expatriate residing in Japan as a journalist rather than a Japanese citizen by birth and, consequently, his wife is renamed to Toni. Otherwise, the plot of the radio drama is fairly close to the original novel.^[23]

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

In his review ofSadako (2019), the film critic and psychoanalyst Pieter-Jan Van Haecke remarked that whileSadako 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 simplyHikiko 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.^[61]

In 2016 and 2017,Bunshinsaba vs. Sadako andBunshinsaba vs Sadako 2, both directed byRiver Huang, a crossover with theBunshinsaba film series, were released. In 2021, the third film in the series, formerly known asBunshinsaba vs Sadako 3, was renamedBunshinsaba: Hoichi the Earless (because of the addition ofKuman thong to the Chinese Bunshinsaba series' starBixian 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 ChineseRing film to be made following the crossover filmBunshinaba vs. Sadako in 2016; produced by Scarecrow Pictures, the film's killers are renamed as sisters Sadako and Kawako, who flee toChina alongside their father after the outbreak of theSecond 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 toSadako 3D 2, it is in-fact a remake.

Sadako: Pendant of Mourning was released on DVD on September 13, 2024, it was originally supposed to be released onAmazon Prime Video.^[62]

• The Ring (franchise)
• Horror film franchises
• Kadokawa Corporation franchises
• Japanese supernatural horror films
• Japanese serial killer films
• Japanese ghost films
• Fiction about curses
• Films about journalism
• Films about television
• Japanese horror films
• Film series introduced in 1995
• DreamWorks Pictures franchises
• Paramount Pictures franchises
• Media franchises introduced in 1991

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