Taglines: Before you die, you see… the ring.
The Ring movie storyline. Rachel Keller is a journalist who decides to go undercover on the mysterious death of her niece and her three friends, who seemed to all died on the same day at the same time- 10:00 PM. After being told that her niece was found in a closet with a horrifying look on her face, she searches through her room and finds some pictures, pictures of the cabin where her niece and her friends had stayed a week before the deaths.
Rachel finds the cabin and finds an unknown video there. She decides to watch it there, and now has only a limited time to live. She and her divorced husband, Noah, research about the video and find facts about Anna Morgan and her daughter, Samara Morgan, the maker of this video. With only a week left, Rachel and Noah discover the unknown secrets of the life of Samara Morgan, and, hopefully for them, a way to break the curse.
The Ring is a 2002 American supernatural psychological horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, and David Dorfman. It is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film Ringu, which was based on the novel of the same name, written by Koji Suzuki.
The film was released theatrically on October 18, 2002, and received mostly positive reviews. Many critics praised the reliance on dread and visuals over gore and the direction along with the screenplay writing, but mainly criticized the lack of character development. The film grossed over $249 million worldwide on a $48 million production budget, making it one of the highest-grossing horror remakes of all time. The film was followed by two sequels: The Ring Two and Rings.
The Ring is notable for being the first American remake of a Japanese horror classic and for paving the way for a number of subsequent “J-horror” remakes, such as The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, The Eye, Shutter, Mirrors and The Uninvited.
The film went into production without a completed script. Ehren Kruger wrote three drafts of the screenplay before Scott Frank came on to do an uncredited rewrite. Verbinski was initially inspired to do a remake of Ringu after Walter F. Parkes sent him the VHS copy of the original Japanese film, which he describes as “intriguing”, “Pulp” and “avant-garde”.
The film also sought to retain the minimalism that was prevalent throughout Ringu and was decidedly set in Seattle, due to its “wet and isolated” atmosphere. Verbinski also admitted to not wanting to cast “big stars” as he wanted his film to be “discovered” and describes the wave of harsh criticism from hardcore fans of the original Japanese film as “inevitable” although he expressed desire for hardcore fans of the original to find the remake as equally compelling.
The film was financially successful, and the box office gross increased from its first weekend to its second. The initial success led DreamWorks to increase the film into 700 additional theaters. The Ring made $8.3 million in its first two weeks in Japan, compared to Ring’s $6.6 million total box-office gross. The success of The Ring opened the way for American remakes of several other Japanese horror films, including The Grudge and Dark Water.
The film features an original score composed by Hans Zimmer (who would later collaborate with Gore Verbinski’s other works). The soundtrack release did not coincide with the film’s theatrical run. It was released in 2005, accompanying The Ring Two in an album that combined music from both The Ring and The Ring Two.
The film features an original score composed by Hans Zimmer (who would later collaborate with Gore Verbinski’s other works). The soundtrack release did not coincide with the film’s theatrical run. It was released in 2005, accompanying The Ring Two in an album that combined music from both The Ring and The Ring Two.
The Ring (2002)
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorfman, Daveigh Chase, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Frost, Amber Tamblyn, Rachael Bella, Shannon Cochran, Sasha Barrese
Screenplay by: Ehren Kruger
Production Design by: Tom Duffield
Cinematography by: Bojan Bazelli
Film Editing by. Craig Wood
Costume Design by: Julie Weiss
Set Decoration by: Rosemary Brandenburg
Art Direction by: Patrick M. Sullivan Jr.
Makeup Department: Rick Baker, Jean Ann Black
Music by: Hans Zimmer
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, disturbing images, language and some drug references.
Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures
Release Date: October 28, 2002
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