The Grudge
The story involves a curse born
of the vengeful feelings of a person who has died an angry, violent
death, and which is passed down through its subsequent victims, much
like a virus.
LATEST NEWS
10/13/04
More clips for the film are up. Check'em by clicking the trailer link on the left. Thanks to "Aurelia".
9/28/04
I've added some new pics posted on the right. You can find more here. Thanks to "james".
9/27/04
Dark Horizons scored an interview with director Takashi Shimizu. You can check that here.
9/23/04
I've added the TV-spot, which can be viewed by clicking the link on your left.
8/18/04
Actress Kadee Strickland spoke with SciFi Wire recently about her role in the film, saying:
"It's very scary. I play a businesswoman who has lived in Japan, and her family's coming over. So I am sort of the seasoned, cultured girl over in Japan. She's a businesswoman gal, and it's just so funny, because I'd never said a lick of Japanese in my life before, and I'm not Southern in the picture, so that was also going to be fun, to have to speak Japanese and not have a Southern accent. There were all kinds of twists and turns in that job for me. But this character basically comes into contact with this cursed house and as a result of it is affected by 'the grudge.'"
8/10/04
Director Takashi Shimizu talked with SciFi Wire about how he had to americanize some of the story for the US audience, saying: "When I did the original Japanese version of The Grudge I had no idea that it would be released in America. I only concentrated on what a Japanese audience gets scared of. For the American remake, I had to adjust my ideas for what is scary to American people. At the same time, the American producers said [the original version] is really scary and then decided to do the remake, so I believe that if they didn't think the original version was scary then they wouldn't have wanted to do the remake."
He then went on to explain how he had to make some necessary changes, saying...
"I trust that the Japanese or Asian horror is going to be interpreted into the American [sensibility] well enough. But at the same time, it's crucial to adjust some parts for an American audience so that they will feel like the remake is really scary also. There isn't much difference between the American version and the Japanese version".
8/05/04
Star Jason Behr spoke with SciFi Wire recently about the film. He goes over how the story pretty much remains true to the original. You can check it here.
7/30/04
Director Takashi Shimizu briefly spoke about the film with Fango, where he revealed that the story is basically the same to the original with the exception of a "slightly different ending".
7/28/04
Dark Horizons has a report on the film here, where the cast at Comic-Con talked about the film.
7/26/04
Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar spoke with SciFi Wire recently about going back to filming for additional scenes. You can read about it here.
7/18/04
Yoou can view a couple new pics here.
7/13/04
I posted poster art for the film that was originally spotted here.
It looks an awful like the original Japanese film Ringu.
7/11/04
This is a bit old, but for those of you who are interested, MTV posted
an on-the-set article for the film here.
7/01/04
According to Fango
the release has been pushed a week.
6/24/04
Ifilm has a clip of the first 8 minutes of the film, along with a clip
of star Sarah Michelle Gellar being interviewed. You can check the 8-minute
clip here,
and the interview clip here.
6/21/04
Yahoo! Movies got the trailer for the film. You can check it
by clicking the link on your right. Also the website has been revealed,
but it's currently not activated, so it just leads to the Sony page.
I've also added some stills.
6/16/04
Actress Kadee Strickland spoke with the guys at Moviehole about her
role in the film. Here's a little of what she was quoted saying: "My
character is based in Japan but her family lives in America. No way
to really research that until I got here. It was funny, I once pinched
the director’s cheeks and everyone swung around with amazed looks
on their faces like ‘No Way’. You just don’t do that
there, they’re not very touchy", she laughs. You can
read more here.
6/14/04
I don't know what's with MTV and horror now-a-days, but they've
got an article up that talks about how Asian flicks are getting the
remake treatment here in the US, with The Grudge being
one of them. In the article you can find a link that leads to various
pics from the film, so check it here.
6/08/04
You can check more behind-the-scenes photos of Sarah and the gang here.
Thanks to"Jorge".
5/30/04
I've added a new pic for the film of star Sarah Michelle looking through
a closet found at the Comic-Con site.
For those of us who've seen the original film and remake know the significance
of the closet.
4/01/04
Actor Ted Raimi talked with SciFi
Wire recently where he talked a bit about his role in the film saying...
"I play this character called Alex, who is
the head of a nursing home in Tokyo, where Sarah Michelle Gellar temps,"
Raimi, a genre favorite, said in an interview. "She's a student
and she temps at this place, and I send her off to this home where a
woman dies."
He then went on to talk a little about
the story... "It's a terrifying story about
angry ghosts in Tokyo and what happens to a bunch of Americans when
they are confonted with this horror. It's a very good story and, interestingly,
it's told in this Japanese style, which is that everybody suffers. Everybody
suffers in a Japanese horror film. In American horror films, in Halloween,
for example, there's that morality system where P.J. Soles sleeps with
her boyfriend and then Michael Myers comes and kills her. In this film,
the innocent and the guilty suffer. There is no distinction. I don't
know if it's a philosophical thing they have in the East, but it's quite
unique." He also varified that this remake is basically
the same story as the Japanese original, just with an american cast.
3/13/04
You can check some behind-the-scenes footage by clicking here.
3/10/04
SciFi Wire's at it again, this time talking to original and remake Grudge
director Takashi Shimizu, through a translator of course. According
to the report, the director was hesitant to do the project until producer
Sam Raimi persuaded him to bring his vision to the states. Takashi was
quoted saying...
"After the original Ju-On, there are more
things that I really wanted to do, but this Grudge is supposed to be
a remake of the original Ju-On. When I was first requested to do this,
I actually didn't want to do it, because I've already made the original.
I felt there was no meaning to do a remake. But these producers, including
Sam Raimi, they really wanted me to do it again, because the taste I
have has never been done in America as a horror movie, and they really
wanted to introduce my taste to America. I thought that was nice, and
I decided to do it."
He then went on to talk a little about star Sarah Michelle Gellar...
"For the original Ju-On in Japan, we had
an actress called Megumi Okina, and she was in the same position as
Sarah, which is [to say] they [both] started off as a teenage idols.
Sarah was the main actress on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which means
that she has been acting a lot, and she's used to acting and she has
the basics, but she still is a teenage idol. When I was told that she
wanted to try being in a horror movie, I thought that was very exciting."
Lastly, he went to talk about bringing his vision to the US... "This
is going to be a movie for Americans, which means it's going to be seen
by a people from a completely different culture. So I thought that was
kind of interesting. Also, since I'm doing this over, there were things
I never could have done in the first one and maybe I can do those things
in the remake. Also, I can review the first one and go over the things
I couldn't do and maybe I can experiment a little bit. ... The taste
of Ju-On can only be brought by me, and I think that taste would be
lost if it was directed by another director, so I'm really happy to
be doing this and, yes, it's a big challenge."
3/09/04
Star Jason Behr talked with SciFi
Wire about his thoughts on the movie filming in Japan, saying...
"They sent me a script. I read it, and I
knew they wanted to shoot it in Japan, which is a huge plus for me.
I've been fascinated by Japanese culture and history for a long time,
and I've always wanted to come to Japan and spend a good amount of time
here. And then they sent me the movie, Ju-On, the first one, and the
moment I saw it I thought, this is so different, so unique in the texture
of the movie, I knew I wanted to be a part of it."
He also goes on to say how hes grown used to understanding
Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Shimizu instead of relying on the translater,
saying... "Well, there's definitely
a sense of being 'lost in translation. I think that, you know, you have
to go through Shimizu-san and then the interpreter, and it took some
time to get used to that format. But now I find myself not so much paying
attention to [the translator], but watching [the director] as he's telling
me what he's saying. Because he's very expressive, his hands. You start
to really read him and what he wants from you. So what was a real big
communication gap is now a small one."
3/07/04
Star Sarah Michelle Gellar talked with SciFi Wire recently about acting
in a foreign land. You can check that here.
The film is currently finishing principal photography at the famed Toho
Studios and on location in and around Tokyo. You can also check a set
report over at CHUD.
Lastly I've added a pic of Sarah on the set that first appeared on a
Buffy site.
2/20/04
I was emailed some info from someone currently in Tokyo right now, who
revealed info that was apparently in yesterday's newspaper called "The
Daily Yomiuri." In the newspaper they talked about the film. Here
are some snipits from the article:
"I wanted to remake the film in Japan because
I felt I would be comprimising myself too much to do it in Hollywood.
Here, I have more control and I've availability to the cast and crew
I want to work with - not people handed to me", says Director
Takashi Shimizu, who helmed the original "Ju-On". "We
have Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr both fresh from very popular
television shows and I think they'll great. This will be great role
for both of them. It will be interesting to see Sarah in a different
light I think, playing more of a victim than we have use to see her
as the vampire slayer". The article also had some new cast
members listed which I've added. Thanks to "The Islander."
2/18/04
Another cast member has been added.
2/17/04
I've added to the cast. Also Japanese correspondent Norman England,
whos been spending a lot of time on the set of the film sent in some
info to Fango about the movie. Here's what was said... "The
thing about this film is that it’s very ensemble. Even though Sarah
Michelle Gellar is the lead, she’s not in it as much as you would
think. But this is in keeping with JU-ON; all the films are like that."
He then adds... "From what I’ve seen,
there is a really good mixing of Japanese and Western staff. There are
a lot of bilingual people on the crew, Japanese who speak English as
well as Americans who speak Japanese. I'd label it a ‘best of both
worlds’ production. The sets look really impressive, too; they
rebuilt the haunted house inside Toho’s new Studio 7. It’s
totally realistic. The crew is really busting their butts on this film
and from the few shots I’ve seen, I have to say that it’s
looking good."
2/10/04
Set for an October release.
2/03/04
THR talked with writer Stephen Susco recently, where he had this to
say about the scares...
"When I'm writing horror, because I'm such
a fan I just sort of like to judge what I'm writing against anything
that I've ever read or seen with the goal that anything I'm coming up
with is something I've never seen before and that I think would really,
really scare me. That's the kind of stuff I like to try to write."
1/29/04
Producer Sam Raimi was quoted saying... "'Ju-On'
is one of the most frightening films I've ever seen. Shimizu crafted
some of the most unique onscreen scares in his Japanese version. He
was relentless in his delivery, leaving you no time to catch your breath.
I'm betting that Shimizu will bring the American horror genre to a whole
new level." Filming is taking place at various locations
in Tokyo and at Toho Studios.
1/15/04
According to Filmjerk Clea Duval
and Kadee Strickland has been added to the cast. They will be playing
sisters Jennifer and Susan. You can read more on it here.
1/12/04
Filming begins this month in Tokyo.
1/08/04
Jason Behr has been added to the cast. He will play a college student
at an international university in Tokyo -- the boyfriend of Gellar's
character.
12/15/03
Sarah Michelle Gellar will be playing the lead female role in the film.
Shooting will begin at Tokyo's Toho Studios in late January
12/12/03
Columbia Pictures got their hands on the domestic distribution rights.
3/19/03
Stephen Susco is in negotiations to script
this film. Producer Taka Ichise talked with Fango recently about how
it got started saying...
Roy Lee, who introduced
Ringu to DreamWorks, invited Sam [Raimi] to a screening of JU-ON and
apparently liked the film so much that he said he would personally like
to produce a remake. Sam was quoted saying...
"It's a very exciting proposition, since
I’ve been very influenced by his films. And as co-producer, I
plan to create with him an unprecedented horror film, the likes of which
has never been seen in America."
Director Takashi Shimizu then tells Fango...
"I
am entirely happy to have been put in charge of the U.S. version,”
Shimizu tells Fango. “This month I’ll be traveling to the
States to discuss the story with the American side of the production.
A U.S. writer [Stephen Susco] is scripting, with the core of the stories
being culled from the JU-ON videos and film. I need to discuss with
them how these stories are arranged and how they connect with each other."
He then went on to say... "I
believe that THE RING helped them accept our style. I realize that this
will be an American film, but I plan to do things my way. If I was simply
to copy the U.S. style of filmmaking, it would have no meaning. I was
appointed by Mr. Raimi because he wants me to create something that
an American can’t. My hope is to scare the U.S. audience in a
way that they are unfamiliar with."
DETAILS
- Star Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Karen,
an American nurse living in Tokyo who gets assigned to a mysterious
and malevolent house where horrific events have taken place in the past.
- Originally producer Sam Raimi wanted to Westernize the entire plot
and move it to America, but writer Stephen Susco and producer Roy Lee
eventually convinced him that it could work better as a more direct
remake than to change what works best.
- Supposedly the idea of remaking this film for the US was floating
around Hollywood before the remake of The Ring.
- A couple actors from the original Takako Fuji (Kayoko) and Yuya Ozeki
(Toshio) reprise their roles for this remake.
- Roy Lee (The Ring), Doug Davison, Joe Drake (Harold and Kumar Go to
White Castle) and Nathan Kahane (Boogeyman) serve as Executive Producers.
- The Grudge is the second film to go into production for Ghost House
Pictures, a joint venture between Raimi, Tapert and Senator International,
that is dedicated to producing commercial feature films with horror,
sci-fi and fantasy themes.
- Filming begins January 26, 2004 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Jason Behr play Sarah Michelle Gellar's boyfriend in the film.
- Columbia Pictures will be distributing this film out in the US.
- The script is being written by Stephen Susco.
- Director Takashi Shimizu is the same director for the original and
Japanese remake.
- Sam Raimi is producing.
- This is the second remake from the original, the first being from
Japan.
- A remake of the original made-for-tv Japanese film.
