Saw Series To Be Revived This Halloween
At what exact point is it safe to bring a long-running series back after you’ve pounded it into the ground? Does seven years sound fair? That’s how long Lionsgate has been sitting on the Saw franchise ever since diminishing returns killed it in 2010. Now it’s coming back this fall under the new title of Jigsaw. “Jigsaw” is the nickname of the serial murderer that the series focuses on. He’s a jerk who finds other jerks and punishes them by sticking them in twisted situations. There is more to it than that, but the backstory gets kind of insane.
The original Saw remains one of the best horror movies ever made. The majority of it involves two men chained up in a single room who have to play deadly games to survive, but all the marketing focused on a scene near the beginning where a woman woke up with a bear trap stuck to her face. The image stuck. Sequels would turn the series into the torturous gore-fest it was perceived to be.
Is Jigsaw a continuation or a reboot? At this early date, no one outside of Lionsgate knows. We do know that the upcoming film’s original title was “Saw: Legacy,” which suggests a reboot of some type. The majority of it has already been filmed in Vancouver from a script written by Pete Goldfinger, Josh Stolberg, James Wan, and Leigh Whannell. The involvement of Wan shows promise, but it depends on how much of his touch made it into the final product — he isn’t directing. Sibling directors Peter and Michael Spierig are.
Laura Vandervoort and Hannah Anderson are the only cast members confirmed so far. Mark Burg, Gregg Hoffman, and Oren Koules, who served as producers on all the previous Saw movies, will be producing this one as well. Jigsaw will be released October 27.