| Ring 0: Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Japanese theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Norio Tsuruta |
| Screenplay by | Hiroshi Takahashi |
| Based on | Lemon Heart by Koji Suzuki |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Takahide Shibanushi[1] |
| Edited by | Hiroshi Sunaga[1] |
| Music by | Shinichiro Ogata[1] |
Production company | Ring 0 Production Group Production[1] |
| Distributed by | Toho Co., Ltd. |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes[1] |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Ring 0: Birthday (リング0 バースデイ, Ringu Zero: Bāsudei) is the 2000 Japanese horror-psychological thriller prequel of Ring directed by Norio Tsuruta. The film is based on a screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi, which in turn is based on the short story "Lemon Heart" from the Birthday anthology by Koji Suzuki. The story follows the life of the character of Sadako Yamamura just before she consigned to her fate seen in the later Ring series.
Ring 0, along with Isola was known for being the one of the earliest Japanese live-action psychological thriller-focused films to be released theatrically. as well as the first psychological thriller films which released theatrically in Japan during early 2000s to gross over ¥1 billion in distribution income, preceding other releases like The Beach, Unbreakable, Vanilla Sky and Panic Room. Ring 0: Birthday was nominated for the 2001 edition of Fantasporto, but lost to Amores perros.