there is great pressure not to stray too far from the norm". Yukie Nakama was cast in the role of Sadako. After Nakama's friends had seen Ring, they teased her about her resemblance to Sadako. Nakama was later contacted by her agent who mentioned they were looking for actresses for the role of Sadako and tried out for the role. She received confirmation of her role in the next two weeks. Release Ring 0: Birthday was released in Japan on January 22, 2000 where it was distributed by Toho. It was released on a double bill with the film Isola. In the Philippines, the film was theatrically released as Ring-0: The Birthday on May 21, 2003. The film was released direct-to-video in the United States under the title Ringu 0 on August 23, 2005 by DreamWorks/Universal Home Video. Reception Online film database AllMovie gave the film two stars out of five, referring to it as a "mediocre Carrie rip" and that it "can only be truly reviled as a desecration of the original Ringu's uniquely persuasive and subtle horror". The review noted that the "film's effort to explain exactly who Sadako (Yukie Nakama) is and how she became a powerful evil force, the film heaps contrivance upon contrivance, mixing clichés from backstage melodramas with those from Carrie and all its imitators, and leaving the viewer with little beyond the strength of Nakama's appealing performance and a few mild scares to hang on to". See also List of horror films of 2000 List of Japanese films of 2000 References Works cited External links 2000 films 2000 horror films 2000s Japanese-language films 2000s ghost films Japanese horror films Films about bullying Films about telekinesis Films based on short fiction Films directed by Norio Tsuruta Films set in 1968 Japanese films about revenge Japanese ghost films The Ring (franchise) Toho films 2000s Japanese films