Ring (film)

Ring
Japanese theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Katakana	リング
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Ringu
Directed by	Hideo Nakata
Screenplay by	Hiroshi Takahashi[1]
Based on	Ring by Koji Suzuki
Produced by	Shinya Kawai Taka Ichise Takenori Sento[2]
Starring	Nanako Matsushima Hiroyuki Sanada Rikiya Otaka Miki Nakatani Yuko Takeuchi Hitomi Sato Yutaka Matsushige
Cinematography	Junichiro Hayashi[2]
Edited by	Nobuyuki Takahashi[1]
Music by	Kenji Kawai[1]
Production company	Ringu/Rasen Production Committee[1]
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	January 31, 1998 (1998-01-31) (Japan)
Running time	95 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	$1.5 million[3]
Box office	$19.5 million (est.)

Ring (リング, Ringu) is a 1998 Japanese supernatural psychological horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, and Hiroyuki Sanada, and follows a reporter who is racing to investigate the mystery behind a cursed video tape; whoever watches the tape dies seven days after doing so. The film is titled The Ring (stylized as the Ring) in English in Japan and released as Ringu in North America.

Production took approximately nine months.^[4] Ring and its sequel Spiral were released in Japan at the same time. After its release, Ring was a huge box office success in Japan and was acclaimed by critics. It inspired numerous follow-ups in the Ring franchise, popularized Japanese horror (or "J-horror") internationally, and triggered a trend of Western remakes of J-horror films, including the 2002 American film The Ring.