By: Michael Gonzalez
Remember that one time in 2002 when The Ring helped us grow out of those old VHS tapes and graduate to DVD? or that time in 2004 when we all had a sore throat from imitating that croaking sound we learned on The Grudge? anybody? no? yeah…me neither. But that’s only because the Americanized versions of these films fizzled out due to poorly received sequels. This wasn’t the case in Japan, where the immense popularity of each franchise lead to many successful sequels, spinoffs, TV shows, and comics. But now something bigger is happening.
Yeah, this is happening.
Following in the footsteps of 2003’s Freddy vs Jason, 2004’s Alien vs Predator, and the upcoming Batman vs Superman and Marvel’s Civil War, studios Kadokawa and NBC Universal are teaming up to produce Sadako VS Kayako, or in other words The Ring VS The Grudge. Sadako was that creepy chick from The Ring, and Kayako from The Grudge. The idea surfaced in a fan-made video from 2015 that was originally meant to be an April fools joke. Thanks to the power of the Internet, the two studios got wind of the idea and came to the logical conclusion that it was all meant to be.
I’ve only seen the American remake versions so far, and none of the sequels, so I cannot comment on those. But I don’t recall either of these ladies exerting the same type of physical violence that characters such as Jason or Freddy have done in their respective films. They mainly served as spectres who resort to haunting their victims, and you know what’s coming to said victim. This reason alone makes me curious to know what type of fighting this movie will include. Are they competing for the same victims? will they haunt and croak at each other for an hour and then realize that they need to work together to kill people? or are we talking about a full on beat down including hair pulling and scratching? all we can see from the trailer so far is Kayako crushing one of Sadako’s beloved VHS tapes, which we know is enough to piss off Sadako.
And you don’t wanna piss off Sadako.
This film is currently slated for a June 18, 2016 release in Japan, and is expected to be a 4D showing (because it’s not enough to watch these characters on the big screen, you want to feel the long hair brush against your arm as well). There is no word yet on whether there will also be an American remake, though I won’t be surprised if it comes along soon. In the meantime, an American reboot of The Ring (Titled Rings) premieres on October 18, 2016, starring Leonard from The Big Bang Theory (Johnny Galecki). There is also a planned reboot of The Grudge in the works with producer Sam Raimi, though there is no release date yet.
Watch the latest trailer for Sadako VS Kayako below. If you need to hug your teddy bear in the process, right now would be the time to go grab it (and don’t worry, your secret is safe with me).
Update: trailer video removed by host.