Novels 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). 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).
Films In 1998,
Hideo Nakata made a new Japanese adaptation of the book in his film
Ring (also known as
The Ring or its
transliteration 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. The first sequel to the 1998 film was
Spiral (also known as
The Spiral or its
transliteration Rasen). 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 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 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. 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
Spiral, ignoring the film
Ring 2 and 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
Spiral. 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. 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. It is a sequel to the original
Ring, ignoring the events of the
Spiral and
Ring 2 timelines respectively.
Television The first adaption of
Ring was the Japanese television film
Ring (with one uncensored 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.
Manga A manga adaptation of the first novel was released in 1996 by Kouhirou Nagai, 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.
Dark Horse Comics compiled the first two volumes and released an English-language version on November 12, 2003. The third adaptation, of Nakata's
Ring 2 film, was written and by illustrated by
Meimu, was released on February 3, 1999. Dark Horse Comics released it on May 19, 2004 as the second volume of
The Ring manga series. The fourth adaptation, titled , 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. Dark Horse released it on August 18, 2004 as volume 3 of
The Ring manga series. The fifth adaptation, titled , is based on the novel of the same name. The manga was written and illustrated by Meimu and released on December 22, 1999. Dark Horse Comics released it on November 3, 2004 as volume 4 of
The Ring manga series. The sixth, titled
Ring 0, based on the film of that name, was also written and illustrated by Meimu, and released on January 28, 2000. Dark Horse Comics released it on March 30, 2005 as "Volume 0" of
The Ring manga series. There was also the manga prequel to this adaptation, titled
The Curse of Yamamura Sadako (
The Curse of Sadako Yamamura), included in the
Ring 0 promotional image book "The Sadako", that explains how Sadako split into the good and evil halves before
Ring 0. The seventh, titled
Sadako-San To Sadako-Chan (
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. The eighth, titled
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. ==Korean remake==