The Ring (2002 film)

The Ring
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGore Verbinski
Screenplay byEhren Kruger
Based on
  • Ring
    by Hiroshi Takahashi
  • Ring
    by Koji Suzuki
Produced by
  • Walter F. Parkes
  • Laurie MacDonald
Starring
CinematographyBojan Bazelli
Edited byCraig Wood
Music byHans Zimmer
Production
company
BenderSpink[1]
Distributed byDreamWorks Pictures[1]
Release date
  • October 18, 2002 (2002-10-18)
Running time
115 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$48 million[3]
Box office$249.3 million[3]

The Ring is a 2002 American supernatural psychological horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Ehren Kruger. Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox and David Dorfman, it follows Rachel Keller, a journalist who discovers a cursed videotape that causes its viewers to die seven days later. It is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 film, based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki.

DreamWorks Pictures released The Ring theatrically in the United States on October 18, 2002. It grossed $249.3 million internationally, becoming one of the highest-grossing horror remakes of all time. It received positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes[4] and mixed reviews on Metacritic[5]. Critics praised the atmosphere and Watts' performance.[4] At the 29th Saturn Awards, The Ring won in two categories: Best Horror Film and Best Actress (for Watts).

It is the first installment of the American Ring series and is followed by The Ring Two (2005) and Rings (2017). The success of The Ring inspired American remakes of several other Asian and Japanese horror films, including The Grudge (2004) and Dark Water (2005).

  1. ^ a b c "The Ring (2002)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  2. ^ "The Ring (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 21, 2002. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "The Ring (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference rt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).