According to Dread Central and screenwriter Stephen Susco, Sarah Michelle Gellar will return for "The Grudge 2," which begins shooting next month in preparation for a Halloween season release.

"Susco, talking to Dread Central from Japan and in the presence of (director Takashi) Shimizu, tells us over the weekend that Gellar is indeed making a return. "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," says Susco who's quite optimistic about G2's progress.

"I think we’re making good strides towards that goal. Personally, I just want to make sure that it’s the kind of film that satisfies fans of the first one...and hopefully pulls in some new fans as well." This is Gellar's second crack at genre sequel work following her stint in "Scream 2" (not counting "Scooby-Doo 2") and as far as future projects go, this year was a busy one, we'll be seeing her in Richard Kelly's "Southland Tales" and the supernatural thriller "The Return" soon."