Saw 3 Movie Trailer. Jigsaw is dying, and he’s saved the most shocking game for last… Two years ago, the psychotic mastermind terrified audiences around world in SAW, ensaring his victims in unspeakably gruesome games. In 2005, Saw 2 continued Jigsaw’s saga, establishing the Saw franchise as one of the most successful – and talked about – horror series of recent years.
Now, Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of SAW II, returns to the helm of Saw 3, a new chapter that promises to trump its predecessors in scares and intensity – and give fans an even closer look at Jigsaw’s dark world.
“In Saw 3, we learn much more about Jigsaw than we have before,” explains Bousman. “This time he has a much grander plan, but his health is failing. So he has enlisted the help of some unlucky victims to make sure he survives and his plan is carried through.”
“Saw 3 is a major rollercoaster ride,” says producer Mark Burg. “There are amazing traps and more of Jigsaw in a way that we haven’t seen him. I don’t think anybody who sits down in the theater will see the ending coming.”
Fans of the first two Saw films will see several familiar faces in Saw 3: Tobin Bell reprises his role as Jigsaw; Shawnee Smith returns as Jigsaw’s unlikely protegé, Amanda; and Dina Meyer appears as Kerry, SAW II’s police detective. Also returning are SAW co-creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who wrote the story, with Whannell (who co-wrote both Saw and Saw 2) assuming sole writing credit for the script. “Leigh is a very talented writer,” avows Burg. “This script shows that he’s adept with complex plotting, but he can also write characters with real psychological depth.”
Despite Saw 2’s success, Bousman, who only finished directing the sequel last year, was initially reluctant to return to the series. “There was a lot of pressure after the popularity of the first two, and I didn’t want to let the fans down,” he admits. “But James, Leigh and I knew that they were going to hand the SAW films off to somebody else, and we wanted to make sure that the integrity was preserved. On top of that, I really liked the new story.”
Bousman’s familiarity with the production certainly placed him at an advantage; yet delivering the highly anticipated third installment of a cult series was not without its challenges. “The hardest thing is trying to give the audience something they haven’t seen before,” explains Bousman. “We have to make it more violent, more intense, more horrific, but also stay true to the story and the characters.”
Adds producer Oren Koules, “I think this year we’re particularly aware of meeting and surpassing the audience’s expectations. We’ve worked incredibly hard to make it as exciting as we possibly can.”
With Whannell and Bousman back on board, the producers continued to re-assemble the winning team behind Saw 2. According to Koules, almost ninety-five percent of the Saw 2 crew returned to the new production, including director of photography David Armstrong and production designer David Hackl. The crew was housed in the same hotel and many of the same locations in Toronto were used. “It was like reuniting a family,” reports Koules. “It was as if we never went away.”
Unlike other franchises that lack continuity between installments, Saw 3 expands on its predecessors, developing Jigsaw’s story while recalling events in the previous films. In a sense, it is both a prequel and a sequel. Explains Bousman, “This movie is a horror film for a much smarter audience. It’s non-linear like the first two films. There are flashbacks within flashbacks. It shows a series of events throughout time, and the audience has to piece them together.”
Of course, a SAW movie wouldn’t be a SAW movie if it weren’t for the traps. SAW fans spend months discussing and comparing favorite torture scenes in on-line chat rooms; and iconic set pieces such as the jaw-trap in the first film and the needle pit in SAW II have become horror milestones. While the filmmakers promise even more elaborate and frightening traps in SAW III, they’re keeping the details tightly under wraps.
Apart from bigger scares, SAW III also burrows deeper into Jigsaw’s psyche and explores his bizarre relationship with Amanda, the heir to his gruesome work. Tobin Bell, who originated the Jigsaw role in the first SAW installment, relished the opportunity to develop his character further. “He’s a philosopher of sorts, a bit of a scientist, a bit of an artist,” says Bell of Jigsaw. “He also must view himself as somewhat of a therapist, because he says to his victims repeatedly, `You’ll thank me one day for this.’”
For Bell, preparation for Saw 3 involved copious amounts of imaginative work on Jigsaw’s backstory. He filled notebooks with character details, from what Jigsaw eats for breakfast to his religious beliefs and his major in college, and covered his dressing room with diagrams and additional notes inspired by the script. He explains, “As soon as you begin to answer one question about a particular scene or a particular moment, that question opens up two more questions. And those two questions pose four new questions. And it just becomes a doubling factor. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Since the relationship between Jigsaw and Amanda forms the backbone of Saw 3, Smith and Bell spent a considerable amount of time creating a back-story for the two-year period before the movie’s story begins. Their work is reflected in Jigsaw’s and Amanda’s eerie, intense bond, which blends mentor/student, father/daughter and quasi-romantic dynamics. “Some of the things Shawnee and Tobin do with mere glances tell more than Leigh and I could ever write, or I could ever direct in a scene,” admits Bousman.
“It’s exciting to have so long to flesh out a character,” says Smith. “With this franchise, we have arcs that just keep on giving, not only forwards, but backwards.”
“There’s definitely a certain intimacy that has been established over the past three years since Shawnee and I have been working together,” adds Bell.
Saw 3 also introduces two new principle characters: Jeff (Angus MacFadyen), a family man haunted by the death of his son in a hit-and-run accident; and Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), a gifted brain surgeon who has become increasingly disconnected from her life. Both become Jigsaw’s pawns in an elaborate, disturbing new game.
“This script is really smart and there’s depth to it,” says Soomekh. “We’ve dissected it and analyzed it, and Leigh and Darren and the producers have been so receptive to the actors’ input. This story gets to the rawest of emotions. It’s really terrifying.”
Visually, Saw 3 will have all the quick cuts and fast-paced rhythms that characterized the first two films. “SAW has a signature style. We’re using a lot of whip-pans and flash-frames to create a dynamic feel,” says Bousman. In many of the film’s graphic torture scenes, Bousman chose the use of prosthetics over digital effects. “I really don’t like to cut away from the gore,” he says. “I’m a big fan of actually showing the audience what they want to see.”
Bousman reports that he’s kept SAW fans in mind through every step of the creative process. “We’ve littered this movie with nods to the first two films, with clues and puzzles – everything the fans love,” says the director. “More traps, more blood, more twists, more turns. So this, really, is a movie for them.”
“Darren knows better than anyone what our audience wants, and his goal is to deliver that to them every time,” says Burg. “He’s always thinking three steps ahead of everybody else.”
Adds Koules, “Everyone here, in every department, feels a loyalty to the fans. We truly relish them. They’ve been so great and so supportive of us that it makes us work harder to make each SAW film bigger and better.”
With three films under its belt, the SAW team has grown closer than ever; but there is one missing member whose loss is deeply felt: SAW producer Greg Hoffman, who died unexpectedly last year, only six weeks after the release of SAW II. Hoffman, with producers Mark Burg, Oren Koules and executive producer Dan Heffner, was responsible for recognizing the potential in SAW when it was only a script, and for giving talented newcomers James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Bousman their first career-making opportunities. Says Bousman, “Greg had faith in all of us even though we were all unknowns. He said, `Come with me,’ and we did and he made it happen. He was passionate and he cared, and that’s not something you see a lot of in Hollywood.”
Saw 3 (2006)
Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus MacFadyen, Bahar Soomekh, Dina Meyer, Debra Lynne McCabe, Donnie Wahlberg, Costas Mandylor, Barry Flatman, Leigh Whannell
Screenplay by: Leigh Whannell
Production Design by: David Hackl
Cinematography by: David A. Armstrong
Film Editing by: Kevin Greutert
Costume Design by: Alex Kavanagh
Set Decoration by: Liesl Deslauriers
Art Direction by: Anthony A. Ianni
Music by: Charlie Clouser
MPAA Rating: R for strong grisly violence and gore, sequences of terror and torture, nudity, language.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: October 27, 2006
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