Saw 10 Already in Development to Follow Spiral

The Saw franchise is already moving forward with a milestone 10th film, following the release of Spiral: From the Book of Saw this summer. The film is listed as in “active development” in the latest issue of Production Weekly, while another source has confirmed that it is indeed happening. No word yet on details like the cast, crew, or story — only that the project is titled SAW X in the production listing. That now brings up some big questions about what this means for Spiral, whose connections to the 8th film in the franchise, Jigsaw, remain unknown — let alone what this tenth film will bring.

As Bloody Disgusting notes in its confirmation report on SAW X, studios Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate “are notorious for pivoting in different directions throughout the process.” It’s stated that a lot of what happens with the tenth Saw film will likely depend on how Spiral is received, as opposed to some kind of pre-planned storyline like a Marvel or DC cinematic universe.

Saw started off as a novel, indie horror concept that launched the career of filmmaker James Wan, as well as his frequent horror collaborator Leigh Whannell. Wan moved on after the first film, handing the reigns to Whannell and director Darren Lynn Bousman, who ran the franchise from Saw II to Saw IV, and is now returning for Spiral. Saw V was where the original creative vision ran dry and the franchise hit the dip in quality that fans often point to; by the seventh film, Saw 3D, the franchise was being mocked as a gimmicky cash cow Lionsgate could not relinquish. Jigsaw didn’t fare much better as a franchise reboot. The film was dogged by critics, but it still managed to secure the same range of profit using the franchise’s tried-and-true method ($10-20 million budget for a $100M+ box office). Still, that was in 2017 and the franchise has been gathering dust since; if not for the star power of Chris Rock behind Spiral, it may have never even happened.

Both Jigsaw and Spiral are written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger, implying that there could indeed be one core storyline that connects the films. Spiral already has hints of being a story about both the past and present cases of John Kramer and the new “Jigsaw Killer” running amok. Both Saw 3D and Jigsaw revealed that Kramer had more disciples than we ever thought — including original movie protagonist Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes). It would be kind of epic if SAW X pitted all of Jigsaws surviving accomplices and/or “players” in one massive showdown.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw hits theaters on May 14th.