There was that wacky Saw series news that broke a while ago that Chris Rock, of all people, was starring in a reboot of the infamously gory torture porn series. He even provided the story idea for the upcoming flick, which was kind of the catalyst for the whole thing. Then there was the casting of Samuel L. Jackson to play Rock’s dad. Like, how bonkers can this movie get?
Well, apparently things are going so well that Lionsgate announced that the currently in-production movie is now coming out on May 15th, 2020 as opposed to the original date of October 23rd, 2020. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a film so majorly fast-tracked.
With the hype and star power surrounding this picture, I’m sure Lionsgate is pouring every available resource into it to make sure things go smoothly. They installed series veterans both behind the camera and the typewriter in the forms of Darren Bousman (Saw II-IV) and Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg (Jigsaw), and are doing their darnedest to keep the plot under wraps, making for some classic intrigue that the series in known for.
While I’m excited to see Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson yell about stuff together, and seeing Jackson getting a deliciously sinister coup-de-grace will be fun as all heck, I am worried a bit. After all, fast-tracking doesn’t tend to produce good cinema. Just look at Justice League. Also, Jigsaw was objectively bad. Not sure why you wouldn’t bring new writers in for a reboot, or pay Rock more to flesh out a full script. He’s written and directed plenty of movies, so he wouldn’t have issues with structure or notes.
Am I being too cynical? Maybe. But I’m also not a huge torture porn guy, so woe is me I guess. Lionsgate is just hoping to get ahead of Halloween Kills, which would have pre-empted the original release date by about a week. This is a great business move, but maybe not a wonderful creative one. In any case, we’ll find out soon enough, as the new Saw hits theaters on May 15th, 2020.