Karen realizes that she is still haunted by Kayako. Cast Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen Davis, an exchange student Jason Behr as Doug McCarthy, Karen's boyfriend, who attends the University of Tokyo and works at a local Tokyo restaurant as a waiter to make ends meet. KaDee Strickland as Susan Williams, Matt's younger sister and a businesswoman who he joins in Tokyo along with his wife and mother. William Mapother as Matthew "Matt" Williams, who relocates to Tokyo for a promotion Clea DuVall as Jennifer "Jen" Williams, Matt's wife Grace Zabriskie as Emma Williams, Matt and Susan's mother and Jennifer's mother-in-law who has severe lethargy with mild dementia. Bill Pullman as Peter Kirk, a college professor working in Tokyo and Kayako's secret love and obsession. Rosa Blasi as Maria Kirk, Peter's wife Ted Raimi as Alex Jones, the director of the care center where Yoko and Karen are stationed Ryo Ishibashi as Det. Hideto Nakagawa, a Japanese detective who covered the murders at the Saeki Family House with his partners. Yōko Maki as Yoko Sekine, a Japanese care worker assigned to care for Emma Williams Takako Fuji as Kayako Saeki, a married woman who is attracted to Peter Kirk. Yuya Ozeki as Toshio Saeki, Kayako and Takeo Saeki's 7-year-old son. Takashi Matsuyama as Takeo Saeki, Kayako's husband and Toshio's father. Production In late 2002, the unexpected success of the English-language remake of The Ring finally gave Sony Pictures confidence to green-light an English-language remake of Ju-On: The Grudge. That same day, Takashi Shimizu, the director and creator of the original film, was hired to direct the film, with Stephen Susco writing the screenplay, and Sam Raimi through its Ghost House Pictures banner producing the project, alongside Robert Tapert and Takashige Ichise. Shimizu was eager to work on a remake of his own film, as he saw it as an opportunity to improve and fix some of the perceived problems and flaws that were present in the original film. Principal photography on the film began on January 26, 2004, with reshoots occurring in July 2004 in Tokyo, Japan. Sarah Michelle Gellar filmed her scenes in Tokyo within three months before returning for the reshoots. Release The Grudge was theatrically released in the United States on October 22, 2004, by Columbia Pictures, to coincide with Halloween. Box office The Grudge opened at 3,348 theaters in North America. The film generated $39.1 million