James Wan talks about how he plans to revitalize the Saw franchise. The filmmaker made his feature directorial debut with the 2004 Saw movie with a script from him and Leigh Whannell that started an entire franchise. While he didn’t return to helm another entry, he remained in the franchise as an executive producer and a story contributor for some sequels.

The 10th Saw movie was released in 2023. While there were initial plans for an 11th entry to be released in the fall, production was stalled due to internal disagreements between the producers and studio. In March, the movie was officially removed from Lionsgate’s release calendar.

In an interview with ScreenRant, The Conjuring: Last Rites director talks about coming back to the franchise that started his career. He admitted that it’s still “a bit early to talk about it,” but he wanted to find “a new start” for the franchise while “staying true” to the established world. Check out his comments below:

Any update? It’s a bit early to talk about it, but needless to say, it’s one that I am very excited about. Just because I really haven’t had much to do with the franchise since the very early days.

I guess it’s challenging and exciting because I get to come back to the movie that started my career – the career for myself and Leigh Whannell. I’m not taking this very lightly at all, and I definitely want to find a way for the next movie to be respectful of what fans love about the franchise, whilst finding a new audience for it.

It’s a 20-year-old franchise, and I do think finding a fresh start to some degree is important, while still staying true to the world that we have created.

What This Means For Saw XI

Development and production reportedly went sideways in January 2024 due to managerial issues and disagreements over the direction of the movie. In March, the writing partners Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan revealed that they had a draft turned more than a year ago, but further process was halted.

In the story they pitched, the writing duo envisioned a timely story that would tackle the same themes in Saw VI, which saw Jigsaw targeting health insurance executives. However, James Wan’s comment suggests that while the cancellation wasn’t the end of the 11th entry, they could be exploring the project from a fresh start.

The filmmaker’s update about it being still “a bit early” to talk about the franchise’s future is interesting. It suggests that the roadblock that prevented Saw XI from being made might not be completely cleared out yet. On the other hand, it does sound like there are still plans for the sequel.

Our Take On Saw XI And The Franchise’s Future

Saw X had the best rating in the entire franchise, in addition to achieving mᴀssive commercial success. The movie takes place between the original Saw and its sequel, Saw II, and follows John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, as he travels to Mexico to seek alternate treatment for cancer. However, after discovering it was a fraudulent scam, he sought revenge on those responsible.

From a financial standpoint, there’s every reason to make another movie after Saw X‘s successful attempt to revive one of the most popular horror franchises. However, after the delay and cancellation of the 11th entry, there’s a need to re-examine the strategy, as what worked in 2023 might not captivate the audiences the same way in the coming years.

So much has changed, but the need for chilling horror movies has only grown. Saw is still coming back, but it might take a bit longer.