Ringu

THE RING

Original screenplay by Takahashi Hiroshi Based upon the novel by Suzuki Kouji

This manuscript is intended for informational purposes only, and is a fair usage of copyrighted material.

Ring (c) 1995 Suzuki Kouji Ring feature film (c) 1998 Ring/Rasen Committee Distributed by PONY CANYON

Adapted/ Translated by J Lopez

http://www.somrux.com/ringworld/

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Caption-- �September 5th.Sunday.�

INT. OUISHI HOUSEHOLD � TOMOKO�S ROOM - NIGHT

CLOSEUP on a TELEVISION SET.There�s a baseball game on, but the sound is turned completely down.Camera PANS to show two cute high school girls, MASAMI and TOMOKO.Masami is seated on the floor at a low coffee table, TEXTBOOK in front of her. Tomoko is at her desk.There are SNACKS all over the room, and it�s obvious there hasn�t been much studying going on. Masami is currently in mid-story, speaking excitedly.

Masami points so suddenly and dramatically at her friend that Tomoko actually jumps in her seat.

Short silence as Masami pauses, relishing the moment.

Her voice drops voice almost to a whisper.

Masami laughs loudly, thoroughly enjoying her own performance. Tomoko, however, is completely silent.She begins looking more and more distressed, until finally Masami notices.

Tomoko comes out of her chair and drops onto the floor next to her friend.Her words are quick, earnest.

Tomoko looks away, worried.Masami slaps her on the knee, laughing.

Tomoko speaks slowly, still looking away.

Their eyes meet and Tomoko half-blushes, looks away again.Her expression becomes serious as she resumes her conversation.

Silence.Masami curls up on herself, thoroughly spooked.

Tomoko looks seriously over at her friend.

There is a long, heavy silence as neither of them says anything.

Tomoko�s face suddenly breaks into a smile.

They both crack up laughing.

Masami reaches out, slaps her friend on the knee.

Tomoko nods, uh-huh.Masami dives forward, pinching her friend�s cheeks and grinning wildly.

Masami laughs, then slaps Tomoko on the knee again as she remembers the trick her friend played on her.

Just at that moment, the phone RINGS.They are both suddenly, instantly serious.Tomoko�s eyes go off in one direction and she begins shaking her head, -No-.Masami looks over her shoulder, following her friend�s gaze.

Tomoko is looking at the CLOCK, which currently reads 9:40.

The phone continues to ring.Tomoko is now clutching tightly onto her friend, looking panicked.

Tomoko nods her head, still holding on tightly.Masami has to forcibly disengage herself in order to stand.The phone is downstairs, so Masami opens the bedroom DOOR and races down the STAIRS.Tomoko calls out to her from behind.

INT. OUISHI HOUSEHOLD � STAIRCASE - NIGHT

Tomoko and Masami run down the staircase, through the hallway towards the kitchen.Tomoko cries out again just before they reach the kitchen.

INT. OUISHI HOUSEHOLD � KITCHEN - NIGHT

Masami has come to a halt before a PHONE mounted on the wall.She pauses, looking slowly at her friend, then back to the phone.She takes it tentatively from its cradle, answers it wordlessly.The tension continues to mount as nothing is said. Masami suddenly breaks into a huge grin.

Still grinning, she hands the phone to Tomoko.Tomoko snatches it quickly.

She is silent for a moment, then smiling widely.

She is so relieved that all the strength seeps out of her and she sinks to the kitchen floor.Masami, equally relieved, slides down the wall and sits down next to her.

Tomoko stands to place the phone back in its wall cradle, and then squats back down onto the kitchen floor.

They burst out laughing with relief again, and are soon both clutching their stomachs.

Tomoko shakes her head, -Don�t you dare-.

Masami walks out of the kitchen. Alone now, Tomoko stands and walks toward the SINK, where she takes a GLASS from the DISH RACK.She then goes to the FRIDGE and sticks her face in, looking for something to drink.Suddenly there is the SOUND of people clapping and cheering.Tomoko, startled, peers her head over the refrigerator door to check for the source of the sound.

She begins walking slowly, following the sound to the DINING ROOM adjacent the kitchen.

INT. OUISHI HOUSEHOLD - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

The lights are off, and there is no one in the room.Tomoko pauses a moment, bathed in the garish LIGHT from the TV, which has been switched on.Playing is the same baseball game they had on the TV upstairs; the same game that Tomoko�s parents are currently at.The VOLUME is up quite high.

A puzzled look on her face, Tomoko takes the REMOTE from the coffee table and flicks the TV off.She walks back to the kitchen.

INT. OUISHI HOUSEHOLD � KITCHEN - NIGHT

A bottle of SODA that Tomoko had earlier taken from the fridge is on the kitchen table.She picks the bottle up, pours herself a drink. Before she can take a sip, however, the air around her becomes suddenly charged, heavy.Her body begins to shiver as somewhere out of sight comes a popping, crackling SOUND underscored by a kind of GROANING. Trembling now, Tomoko spins around to see what she has already felt lurking behind her.She draws in her breath to scream.

The screen goes white, and fades into:

CAMERA POV

The screen is filled with the visage of a nervous-looking YOUNG GIRL. She is being interviewed by ASAKAWA, a female reporter seated offscreen.

The girl looks directly at the camera, her mouth dropping into an �O� as she�s suddenly overcome by a kind of stage fright.She continues staring, silently, at the camera.

INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

KOMIYA, the cameraman, has lowered his camera. We can now see that the young girl being interviewed is seated at a table between two friends, a SHORT-HAIRED GIRL (GIRL#2) and a LONG-HAIRED GIRL (GIRL #3). They are all dressed in the UNIFORMS of junior high school students. Opposite them sits Komiya and Asakawa, a pretty woman in her mid- twenties.A BOOM MIKE GUY stands to the left.

Asakawa glances over her shoulder, makes sure that Komiya is ready.

GIRL #2 I heard that if you�re watching TV late at night it�ll come on, and then your phone�ll ring.

GIRL #2 Mmmm... I heard some local station, around Izu.

GIRL #2 Mmm-hmm.

The girl flashes a look at her two friends.

Girl #2 nods her head. Girl #3 nods slowly, opens and closes her mouth as if deciding whether to say something or not.The reporter notices.

GIRL #3 I heard this from a friend of mine in high school.She said that there was this one girl who watched the video, and then died a week later. She was out on a drive with her boyfriend.

GIRL #3 No, their car was parked, but they were both dead inside.Her boyfriend died because he�d watched the video, too.That�s what my friend said.

Girl #3 grows suddenly defensive.

GIRL #3 (cont�d) It�s true!It was in the paper two or three days ago.

GIRL #3 No... I heard this from my friend, and it didn�t happen at her school. She heard it from a friend at a different school, she said.

INT. NEWS STATION � DAY

Asakawa is seated at her DESK.The station is filled with PEOPLE, scrabbling to meet deadlines.Komiya walks up to Asakawa�s desk and holds out a MANILA FOLDER.

Komiya has a seat.

>* Literally �Ripped-Mouth Lady,� a kind of ghastly spectre from >Japanese folk stories who wears a veil to hide her mouth, which >has been ripped or cut open from ear to ear. She wanders the >countryside at night asking men �Do you think I�m beautiful?� then >lowering her veil to reveal her true features.

Asakawa gets up from her desk and begins walking towards the exit. She takes only a few steps before noticing a RACK of recent DAILY EDITIONS.

She takes one from the rack, sets it on a nearby TABLE.She begins flipping the pages, and suddenly spies this story:

STRANGE AUTOMOBILE DEATH OF YOUNG COUPLE IN YOKOHAMA

The bodies of a young man and woman were discovered in their passenger car at around 10 A.M. September 6th.The location was a vacant lot parallel to Yokohama Prefectural Road.Local authorities identified the deceased as a 19-year old preparatory school student of Tokyo, and a 16-year old Yokohama resident, a student of a private all-girls� high school. Because there were no external injuries, police are investigating the possibility of drug-induced suicide...

Just then two men walk by, a GUY IN A BUSINESS SUIT and a youngish intern named OKAZAKI.Okazaki is carrying an armload of VIDEOTAPES.

The guy in the suit pats Okazaki on the shoulder and walks off.

Okazaki turns to walk away, spots Asakawa bent over the small table and peering intently at the newspaper article.

Asakawa turns around and begins speaking excitedly.

Asakawa points to the newspaper.

Asakawa walks off.Okazaki, still carrying the videotapes, leans forward to take a look at the article.

EXT. APARTMENT PARKING LOT - DAY

Asakawa drives her car into the lot and parks quickly.She gets out, runs up the STAIRCASE to the third floor.She stops in front of a door, sticks her KEY in the lock, and opens it.

INT. ASAKAWA�S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM � DAY

A BOY of about 7 is sitting in an ARMCHAIR facing the veranda.We can see only the back of his head.