Saw is among the most well-known and popular horror franchises of all time, with a pop culture footprint that’s extended ever since the 2004 release of the independent, low-budget original. Since then, it’s spawned a total of nine sequels, each of which has been met with varying levels of critical and box office success.
Even the most fervent fans of the franchise would likely agree that the narrative jumped the shark a few movies in, and it devolved into a rat’s nest of haphazard twists and errant gore. While the ship was righted somewhat with the surprisingly successful semi-prequel Saw X in 2023, plans for another entry set to release in 2025 were eventually scrapped in favor of a franchise reset.
Fortunately for Saw fans, it looks like that reset is going to prove effective. With Blumhouse Productions taking over the franchise, there is a new direction from a creative standpoint, and it’s exactly what fans of the original movie should want to hear.
James Wan Is Taking Saw Back To Its Thematic Roots
In a recent conversation with Letterboxd, James Wan spoke about how he and Leigh Whannell, the creators of the original Saw, will be involved in the next iteration of the franchise. Wan hasn’t been involved in any meaningful capacity since directing the original and contributing to the screenplay for Saw III, while Whannell hasn’t been involved since writing each of the first three movies.
Wan spoke specifically about his desire to bring the franchise back to what made the original such a smash. Most importantly, he wants to strip things back from the goofiness of the twists and the increasingly convoluted traps.
I want to make a scary Saw—not just gory, but psychologically scarring, like what Leigh and I did in the first movie. Leigh and I both want to recapture the spirit of that first film and revisit Jigsaw’s philosophy, which is that he goes after people who don’t appreciate their lives.
The later chapters of the franchise settled somewhere far away from the simple, brutal games of Tobin Bell’s John “Jigsaw” Kramer. By returning the franchise to the morally complex (if ultimately misguided) spirit of its original serial killer, future iterations could rekindle what made the original so impactful.
Wan Will Need To Blend The Original Spirit With Something Fresh
To a certain degree, Saw was lightning in a bottle. It was an original concept with an earned twist that blindsided audiences. When Wan says he wants to recapture the spirit of the first film, it’s important to note that he called out the “psychologically scarring” nature of the original. Audiences come into Saw movies expecting twists and traps, but that may not be the best way to revive the franchise.
Wan and Whannell will need to come at the core concept—of appreciating your life, or else—from a new angle. I won’t speculate as to how they inject new life into the story, or if they hit the reset button entirely. However, James Wan and Leigh Whannell are clearly on the right path to bringing Saw back with a vengeance.
- Movie(s)
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Saw (2004), Saw 2 (2005), Saw 3 (2006), Saw 4 (2007), Saw 5 (2008), Saw 6 (2009), Saw 3D (2010), Jigsaw (2017), Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), Saw X (2023)
- First Film
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Saw (2004)
- Cast
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Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Leigh Whannell, Donnie Wahlberg, Lyriq Bent