Rings[a] is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez and written by David Loucka, Jacob Aaron Estes and Akiva Goldsman.

It stars Matilda Lutz as a young woman who finds herself on the receiving end of a terrifying curse that threatens to take her life in seven days.

Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Aimee Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan and Vincent D'Onofrio also star in supporting roles.

Paramount Pictures had initially planned a third film, originally titled The Ring 3D, in early 2014, directed by Gutiérrez and written by Loucka and Estes.

Rings was released in the United States on February 3, 2017, by Paramount Pictures, and was a commercial success, grossing $83.1 million worldwide against its $25 million budget, but received largely negative reviews from critics, with criticism aimed at its mythology, similarities to previous films, reliance on jump scares, and special effects.

Gabriel photocopies the mark on Julia's hand and sends them to Sacrament Valley, where Samara was given a proper burial after the residents of Moesko Island refused to accept the remains.

Meanwhile, Julia's copy of the cursed video is sent to everyone on her contact list, eventually going viral, despite Holt's futile attempts to disconnect the computer.

[4] In August, Paramount was in talks with Akiva Goldsman to write a third draft of the screenplay, which had previously been worked on by David Loucka and Jacob Aaron Estes.

In addition, Paramount released a prank video where an actress dressed as Samara jumped out of a television to scare unwitting patrons at an electronics store.

The digital HD and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast & crew, deleted/extended scenes, and an alternate ending.

[2] In North America, the film was released alongside The Space Between Us and The Comedian, and was projected to gross $12–14 million from about 3,000 theaters in its opening weekend.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Rings may offer ardent fans of the franchise a few threadbare thrills, but for everyone else, it may feel like an endless loop of muddled mythology and rehashed plot points".

[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale, lower than the B– and C+ earned by its respective predecessors.

[23] Alex Gilyadov of IGN gave the film a score of 4.5/10, stating that it "opts for lazy jump scares and a convoluted origins story no one asked for or needed", though not dismissing that it has "some chilling scenes and creepy visuals".

[25] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film zero stars and called it a "botch job" that suffers from "demo-worthy awfulness in directing, writing and acting".

Club commented that the film was a pale imitation of the 2002 American remake in terms of visuals and plot structure.

Mike McCahill of The Guardian commented that the film "smoothly reinvents the wheel", pointing out that "the admirably loopy finale, involving blind Vincent d'Onofrio's swarming army of cicadas, is worthy of one of the better Exorcist sequels".

[30] Javier Jimenez Montoya of Vavel also praised the film, stating that "it's a step forward in the horror genre" and applauding "its strong, surprising ending".

[32] The final numbers in the global box office pushed Paramount to consider making another film in the Ring franchise.