With "The Ring," the horror film based on the 1998 Hideo Nakata hit "Ringu," sailing past the $100 million mark in the United States, remakes of Japanese and other Asian films are suddenly hot in Hollywood.
Many of the dozens of the recently signed deals will never materialize on the screen, while others will disappoint their backers, just as so many other remakes have failed to live up to expectations over the years.
But the lure of another "Ring"-sized jackpot is drawing Hollywood producers, even if their knowledge of Japanese cinema begins and ends with "Godzilla" and a Kurosawa classic or two.