Sadako Yamamura is the central antagonist of Japanese mystery horror novel Ring and the film adaptations that came out after it. She was the vengeful ghost of a psychic who was murdered and thrown into a well. She created a cursed videotape that will kill whoever watches it exactly one week later unless the tape is copied and shown to another person, who then must repeat the same process. Her first appearance was in the horror novel Ring, written by Koji Suzuki and first published in 1991. Several cinematographic adaptations were done, starting with Ringu (1998) and its sequels and followed by the American remake The Ring (2002), starring Naomi Watts, which also had a series of sequels and remakes.
Being one of the most popular characters in Japan’s blockbuster horror movies, it wasn’t a surprise when the filmmakers decided to create a spin-off giving Sadako a new set of adventures and platforms to create horror. That was the origin of Sadako 3D (2012), where Sadako seeks her revenge through the Internet, its sequel Sadako 2 3D (2013), and even the crossover movie Sadako vs. Kayako (2016) where she had to confront the cursed spirit star of Ju-on (2002) and its sequels, another cult icon of Japanese horror movies.
Sadako still has more horror to spread around the silver screen. A new remake of her story is on the way with Sadako (2019). This time, the director of the original film of the Ringu (1998) saga, Hideo Nakata, is back behind the cameras. He was also the one responsible for the Japanese sequel Ringu 2 (1999), as well as the sequel of the American remake The Ring Two (2005), as well as other J-horror hit films like Dark Water (2002) or Death Note: L Change the World (2008), so he surely knows the terrain.
In Sadako (2019), a girl with amnesia is under the care of counselor Mayu. The patient is under police guard and of special interest. Yet, not many know why and the girl herself is oblivious to everything. At the same time, Mayu’s brother is one of those Internet wannabes and looking to become popular and gain attention. The boy begins his own adventures. Elaiza Ikeda, one of the voices in Wes Anderson’s fantasy animation comedy Isle of Dogs (2018) plays Mayu Akikawa. Himeka Himejima, Ren Kiriyama, Hiroya Shimizu, Rie Tomosaka and Takashi Tsukamoto also star.
Sadako (2019) is set to hit theaters in Japan the next May 24, has been announced at Moshi Moshi Nippon. And the official Twitter page of the movie saga has published a first teaser that you can watch here:
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°#きっと来る pic.twitter.com/U8JisVx77b— 映画『貞子』公式 (@sadako3d) January 17, 2019
