There were two sequels in Japan, The Ring 2 and The Ring 0. There was also a Korean remake titled The Ring Virus. The international success of the original launched a revival of horror filmmaking in Japan that resulted in such pictures as Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse and Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on.
The film was derived from a best-selling novel of the same name, by Koji Suzuki, often referred to as Japan's Stephen King.