Hideo Nakata, director of RINGU and the wildly disappointing THE RING 2, has signed on to his second English language film. Nakata will direct CHATROOM, a thriller about teens and their destructive behavior on the web. Interestingly, CHATROOM is based on a play by Irishman Enda Walsh, which was far more of a character study on teens and their interpersonal relationships (or lack thereof) than a thriller. Now it’s being sold as a cross between DISTURBIA and CUBE. CHATROOM will be Nakata’s second English language film after RING 2 and his first original English language project. Nakata could be considered to be the forefather of the Americanized “J-horror” fad that was so popular a few years back. The director launched a number of popular horror franchises including DARK WATER and CHAOS, a US remake of which at one time was set to star Benicio Del Toro and Robert De Niro. Filming on CHATROOM is expected to begin this spring in the UK.
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