If there’s one franchise I have a love/hate relationship with, it would definitely be Saw. I’m a sucker for twist endings, deadly Rube Goldberg-inspired traps, and (I can only assume) a warped sense of morality. Still, the series hasn’t exactly been on solid footing as of late. After coming to an end all the way back in 2010, it was rebooted in 2017 with the aptly named Jigsaw, which, as you may have guessed, featured the iconic killer of the same name.
2018 came and went without much fanfare, but this year has been full of interesting developments. Back in May, we reported how Chris Rock (yep, you read that correctly) was joining the franchise, serving as an EP and providing the story for the next film, which would be adapted into a screenplay by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg.
Now, as Bloody Disgusting details, it seems like Lionsgate is quickly moving forward with production on the new project. Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed the franchise’s second, third, and fourth films – as well as the cult classic Repo! The Genetic Opera – has been brought back to sit behind the camera and taking to Twitter, he revealed that filming is set to kick off in a matter of days. It’s not entirely clear how long the process will take, but given the series’ relatively small scale and budget, we can’t imagine it’ll last all that long.
Unfortunately, it seems Lionsgate is targeting an October 2020 release, which means the studio will likely sit on this one for a while, keeping it on the backburner and dropping it during next year’s Halloween rather than getting it out the door as soon as possible. For now though, it looks like the Saw franchise is alive and well and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on whatever direction it goes in next.