Despite rumors to the contrary, it seems that the game is far from over for the Saw franchise. THR reports that behind-the-scenes disagreements over the direction for Saw XI ultimately led to the project vacating its planned September 26th release date, with The Strangers — Chapter 2 assuming that release window. However, none other than Jigsaw’s own ventriloquist dummy Billy the Puppet issued a statement on the status of Saw XI via Lionsgate and relayed in THR‘s reporting, “I’ve seen the rumors. They say it’s Game Over. You all should know me better than that. The game is never over.”
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THR previously reported that one of Saw XI‘s writers Patrick Melton spoke of “inter-squabbling,” with Melton also stating, “It’s stalled at a managerial level. It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There’s higher-level things at play.” The news of such creative disagreements on Saw XI are a bit surprising, given the annual turnaround the Saw series maintained in its heyday along with the franchise’s major comeback with 2023’s Saw X. Still, Billy the Puppet’s reassurance indicates that Saw XI remains a priority for Lionsgate.
The Saw franchise began all the way back in 2004, marking the feature directorial debut of James Wan and establishing he and Saw co-writer/co-star Leigh Whannell as Hollywood’s new horror movie power players. The Saw movies maintained a grip on the Halloween timeframe from 2004 through 2010, with the franchise officially concluding at the time with 2010’s Saw: The Final Chapter. Despite this, and the death of series star John Kramer aka Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) in 2006’s Saw III, the Saw franchise nonetheless returned, first with 2017’s Jigsaw and 2021’s spin-off Spiral, followed by 2023’s Saw X.
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The Saw franchise is well known as the reigning king of the “torture porn” subgenre of horror, introducing Bell’s Jigsaw as as a cancer-stricken civil engineer who devises deadly traps that test their subject’s will to live. The traps of the Saw franchise typically call upon their occupant to either engage in a horrific act of self-mutilation or die, with Kramer striving to impress the value of life upon his test subjects. Of those who have survived Jigsaw’s traps, many have gone on to join his cause as accomplices, including Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith).
Saw X proved to be a surprising revitalization of the Saw franchise and among the best-received entries in the series. Taking place between Saw and Saw II, Saw X sees Kramer travel to Mexico when an off-the-grid team of doctors offers a potential cure for his cancer, only to discover too late that the whole operation was a fraud. Kramer and Amanda subsequently put the phony medical team through another horrific game. It seems that Saw XI is intended to build upon the healthcare-based plots of Saw VI and Saw X, with Melton telling THR, “Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that,” with Melton reportedly likening the plot to that of Saw VI.
Despite the setbacks that Saw XI has faced, it’s no surprise that Lionsgate is eager to get their ducks in a row on Jigsaw’s next game, especially after the new life breathed into the series with Saw X. Jigsaw himself once warned his associate Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) in Saw IV, “You think it’s over just because I am dead? It’s not over. The game’s have just begun.” Given how eerily Billy the Puppet’s message mirrors that of Jigsaw, it seems that it is still very much game on for Saw XI.
Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Saw franchise.
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