The next installment in the American series of The Grudge is a go with The Grudge 2 and set to star the returning talents of Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Takashi Shimizu is also back in the Directors chair, and the screenwriter, Stephen Susco says through Dread Central via Coming Soon that...

"SMG is back. Without giving anything away, we've all been pretty focused on making a sequel that has a strong raison d'etre - a second chapter to an evolving story, instead of a sequel that's made just because the first one performed well."

Well that's great. I'm so unphased by that I could...well...do nothing. What is interesting though is the fact that while the second American Grudge is in pre-production, the third Japanese Grudge (Ju-on: The Grudge 3) has been announced, and with Shimizu taking writing and directing duties. Is he trying to get a third one created in Japan so that he can be paid to remake it in America?