Horror Franchise Comes To An Abrupt End As ‘Saw XI’ Stalls At Lionsgate

After 21 years of grotesque traps, psychological torment, and twisted morality, the “Saw” franchise seems to have met its personal inevitable destiny.

The long-running horror collection, which started with James Wan’s 2004 authentic, has reportedly stalled on the studio stage, leaving the destiny of “Noticed XI” unsure.

The eleventh installment was initially introduced for a September 2024 launch, solely to be delayed by a yr.

Now, writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who’ve been with the franchise for the reason that fourth film, declare they’ve been left at the hours of darkness by Lionsgate since submitting a script in Might 2024.

“We haven’t heard something since Might,” Melton advised The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s stalled at a managerial stage. It has nothing to do with the artistic or anything. There’s higher-level issues at play.”

“Noticed XI” was set to be directed by Kevin Greutert, the filmmaker behind “Noticed VI” and “Noticed X,” which revitalized the franchise in 2023 with a return to its roots. Regardless of “Noticed X” incomes $112 million globally, zero progress has been made on the following movie, in keeping with THR.

Melton famous that inside disagreements between producers and Lionsgate have saved the mission from transferring ahead. “The rationale it’s held up is simply, there’s inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They only can’t fairly get on the identical web page,” he defined.

Whereas “Noticed XI” might by no means see the sunshine of day, Melton insists the storyline they developed is extra related than ever, likening it to the social commentary of “Noticed VI.” That movie, launched in 2009, centered on medical health insurance executives being focused by Jigsaw, a premise that gained renewed consideration following the latest homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“’Noticed XI’ might or will not be made, however we’ve got a really well timed story in it, and I hope it will get made simply due to that,” Melton mentioned. “It faucets into the identical themes of ‘Noticed VI,’ the place you’re a citizen, you’re feeling offended and pissed off with one thing, you’re feeling like you’ll be able to’t do something, and John Kramer’s going to do it.”

The horror film franchise launched in 2004, changing into a field workplace phenomenon with its debut movie. Made on a shoestring price range of $1.2 million, “Noticed” earned a staggering $103 million worldwide, cementing Tobin Bell’s John Kramer (Jigsaw) and Shawnee Smith’s Amanda Younger as horror icons.

What adopted was a relentless string of sequels, with a brand new film hitting theaters yearly from 2005 to 2010, dominating the Halloween field workplace.

• “Noticed II” (2005) – $147M worldwide
• “Noticed III” (2006) – $164M worldwide
• “Noticed IV” (2007) – $139M worldwide
• “Noticed V” (2008) – $114M worldwide
• “Noticed VI” (2009) – $68M worldwide
• “Noticed VII” (2010) (Noticed 3D) – $136M worldwide

After a seven-year hiatus, the collection returned with “Jigsaw” (2017), which grossed $102M worldwide however underperformed domestically. This was adopted by the Chris Rock-led “Spiral: From the Ebook of Noticed “(2021), which flopped with simply $40M globally, marking the franchise’s worst monetary efficiency.

It wasn’t till “Noticed X” in 2023, which introduced again Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw and Shawnee Smith’s Amanda Younger, that the collection rebounded, incomes $107M worldwide and receiving vital reward.

For practically 20 years, Tobin Bell has been the face of probably the most notorious horror villains of all time, John “Jigsaw” Kramer within the “Noticed” franchise. Because the collection just lately celebrated its twentieth anniversary, Bell sat down with the Los Angeles Times to mirror on the facility of horror, the philosophy behind Jigsaw, and the way the position modified his profession without end.

Whereas Bell had an extended profession full of supporting roles and background appearances, it wasn’t till “Noticed”’s launch in 2004 that he grew to become a family identify in horror. Talking about why scary films have such a maintain over audiences, Bell defined that the style’s energy lies in its means to create an uncontrollable, visceral response.

“It’s a visceral expertise that you could’t management,” he mentioned. “You’re not simply sitting, passively watching. Impulsively you [jumps up from his chair, startled]. Some individuals like that. Not my cup of tea, essentially.”

Regardless of enjoying one among horror’s most terrifying figures, Bell admitted that he wasn’t all the time a fan of scary films himself. “Once I was a child I didn’t like going to horror movies,” he mentioned. “As quickly because the scary a part of a movie would come up, I’d be down behind the seat.”

With “Noticed XI” indefinitely stalled, the way forward for the franchise stays unclear. Lionsgate has not responded to stories of the mission being shelved, and it’s unknown whether or not Kevin Greutert continues to be connected to direct.

For now, evidently Jigsaw’s reign of terror has lastly come to an finish, at the very least, till Hollywood decides to carry him again to life as soon as once more.