As a new film is confirmed, James Wan is reflecting on the Saw franchise following Saw 10‘s announcement. Co-created by Wan and The Invisible Man‘s Leigh Whannell, the horror movie series centered on different groups of people as they found themselves caught in an elaborate and dangerous series of traps designed to make them find new appreciation for their lives. The primary thread connecting all of the Saw films is Tobin Bell’s John Kramer, better known as Jigsaw, the creator of the traps whose backstory is further expanded with each sequel.
Since launching in 2004, the Saw franchise has included eight mainline movies, the most recent of which was 2017’s Jigsaw, and one spinoff with the Chris Rock-led Spiral: From the Book of Saw. The films have received mostly mixed–to-negative reviews from critics for its reliance on its gory set pieces and its continually convoluted story, but has remained successful at the box office, grossing over $1 billion worldwide against its combined $97 million budget. Thanks to this success, the producers behind the franchise aren’t letting the Saw franchise lie dormant for too long and one filmmaker is reflecting on its history.
On the heels of the film’s reveal, James Wan took to his Instagram to react to the Saw 10 announcement. The director expressed his excitement for another installment in the horror series and reflected on his time with the Saw franchise, being amazed it has run for this long. Check out Wan’s post below:
Long before he would help usher Insidious, also co-created with Whannell, The Conjuring Universe and Aquaman to the big screen, Wan made his feature directorial debut on the original Saw film, having been based on the short film of the same name from him and Whannell. While it may not have been a critical darling, the first Saw would quickly become a box office smash, grossing nearly $104 million against its $1.2 million production, leading to Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures continuing with a number of sequels, the first two of which still included Wan and Whannell in some capacity. With it becoming the most-profitable film since Scream at the time, the Saw franchise became a Halloween staple, with new sequels released every year until 2010’s The Final Chapter.
In spite of plans for the latter film to bring the Saw franchise to a close, many weren’t surprised when it sprung back to life in 2017’s Jigsaw, though some were left puzzled at the film’s lack of expansion on the sequel-baiting ending of The Final Chapter. With writer Josh Stolberg teasing that Jigsaw fans will be very pleased with Saw 10, many longtime viewers of the franchise are holding out hope for the next sequel to continue the story threads from The Final Chapter‘s close. While audiences await more details on the new film, they can revisit the Saw franchise available to stream across Tubi, Peacock and Starz.
