Ringu Director To Adapt Graphic Novel THE SUICIDE FOREST

Producers Roy Lee (The Departed, How To Train Your Dragon) and Taka Ichise (The Grudge franchise) have enlisted director Hideo Nakata (Ringu, The Ring 2) to helm their live action feature adaptation of the IDW graphic The Suicide Forest.

The team is currently looking for a screenwriter to adapt the first in a series of four graphic novels written by El Torres with artwork by Gabriel Hernandez, which revolves around Aokigahara, a vast forest outside Tokyo which is called the most famous suicide spot in the entire world. It's a real friggin' place... don't go there.

Legend has it that the spirits of those many suicides still roam the ancient woods. The thriller examines the lives of Alan, an American ex-pat living in Tokyo with a rather unhealthy relationship with Masami, and Ryoko, a forest ranger who recovers the suicide victims' bodies from the woods.

I haven't read the graphic novel, but this sounds like a perfect fit for Nakata, who has quite the experienced team behind him whom he has worked with before. The real-life setting is creepy enough they could have done some crappy found footage film about it, but thankfully they're not!

What do you think of Hideo Nakata taking on The Suicide Forest?