Details of ''The Ring'' sequel

No one is more delighted with the surprise success of ”The Ring” than DreamWorks production exec Walter Parkes, who, in the weeks before the film opened, watched in dread as the movie’s tracking — which charts early audience reaction — seemed to spell doom. But the movie proceeded to open at No. 1 and has earned more than $80 million so far, making it yet another project to cast doubt on the merits of tracking (”The Santa Clause 2” also tracked badly, but has made $60 million in two weeks). ”It was the most schizophrenic experience releasing a movie I’ve ever had,” says Parkes, who is now considering a ”Ring” sequel, in which star Naomi Watts is contractually obligated to star. (While there is a prequel and a sequel to the original Japanese thriller on which ”The Ring” is based, neither is a template the filmmakers necessarily want to use.) Parkes is hoping to reunite director Gore Verbinski, who is currently working on ”Pirates of the Caribbean,” with ”Ring” screenwriter Ehren Kruger, and to have the film out in two years. While he’s undecided on the story line, executive producer Roy Lee suggests that ”we develop a script for a sequel and a prequel, and go with whichever comes together first.”