Sadako 3D
2012 · Japan · 96 min
- Director
- Gore Verbinski, Tsutomu Hanabusa
- Screenplay
- Kōji Suzuki, Tsutomu Hanabusa
- Producer
- Walter F. Parkes, Gary Goetzman, Laurie MacDonald
- Music
- Hans Zimmer, Kenji Kawai
- Cinematography
- Bojan Bazelli
- Editing
- Craig Wood
- Based on
- S
Cast
What it is about
Thirteen years after the events of the first film, a series of deaths linked to a cursed video pulls the skeptical Detective Koiso and his partner into an investigation. The trail leads to digital artist Seiji Kashiwada, while teacher Akane Ayukawa discovers that the curse has singled her out, a woman whose psychic powers have set her apart since adolescence.
How it was made
The project revived the Japanese Ring series twelve years after Ring 0: Birthday, and it took shape during the 3D cinema boom that followed Avatar. The central idea was for Sadako to emerge literally from the cinema screen. Tsutomu Hanabusa directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Yoshinobu Fujioka, based on an original story by Kōji Suzuki. Satomi Ishihara, making her first horror film, performed much of the physically demanding action herself, including running, falling down stairs and working against strong wind effects.
Reception and legacy
In Japan it was a commercial success, opening at number two at the box office with 154,148 admissions and reaching ¥1.35 billion in gross by the end of 2012. Critics abroad were largely harsh, faulting the thin characters, the CGI creatures, the reliance on 3D and the departure from the psychological dread of the original. A few reviewers were more generous, praising the stranger second half as an enjoyable if inferior addition to the franchise.
Stills
Trivia
A screening with physical effects
To promote the film, a one-night special event titled Sadako 4D took place in Tokyo in June 2012. It included smoke effects, performers dressed as Sadako and simulated attacks on the audience.
A more playful marketing campaign
The publicity team shifted from a frightening Sadako to a more humorous version to appeal to teenagers and people in their twenties. One stunt had Sadako throwing the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game.
More films by Gore Verbinski
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The Lone Ranger
The Ring
The MexicanOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.