All About Saw Franchise
Saw is an American horror franchise distributed by Lionsgate, produced by Twisted Pictures and created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, that consists of eight feature films and additional media. In 2003, Wan and Whannell made a short film to help pitch as a potential feature film. This was successfully done in 2004 with the release of the first installment at the Sundance Film Festival. It was released theatrically that October.
The sequels were directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, David Hackl, and Kevin Greutert, and were written by Wan, Whannell, Bousman, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan, and were released subsequently every October, on the Friday before Halloween, between 2004 and 2010. Both of the creators remained with the franchise as executive producers. On July 22, 2010, producer Mark Burg confirmed that the seventh film, Saw 3D, is the final installment of the series. Lionsgate reportedly expressed interest in continuing the franchise in 2012 with a reboot. In November 2013, it was reported that they were in active development of a sequel. An eighth film, Jigsaw, was released in October 2017.
The franchise revolves around John Kramer, also called the “Jigsaw Killer” or simply “Jigsaw”. He was introduced briefly in Saw and developed in more detail in Saw II. Rather than killing his victims outright, Jigsaw traps them in situations that he calls “tests” or “games” to test their will to live through physical or psychological torture. Despite the fact that John was murdered in Saw III, the films continue to focus on the posthumous influence of the Jigsaw Killer and his apprentices by exploring his character via flashbacks.
The films collectively grossed over $970 million at the box office worldwide. The film series as a whole has received mostly mixed to negative reviews by critics, but has been a financial success at the box office and is one of the highest-grossing horror film franchises of all time. While the films are classified as torture porn by critics, the creators of Saw disagree with the term.
Saw
Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell
Story by James Wan and Leigh Whannell
SAW’s opening scene immediately plunges the audience into the unknown, along with the two unfortunate men, Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), who wake to find themselves chained up in a fetid subterranean bathroom. The captives are the most recent targets of a psychopathic genius known as Jigsaw, who constructs elaborate games that force his victims to make impossible choices between life and death. As Adam and Dr. Gordon struggle to unravel the elaborate puzzle of their fate, Detective Tapp (Danny Glover) and his colleague Kerry (Dina Meyer) work furiously to determine Jigsaw’s identity before he can claim yet more victims. But Jigsaw has accomplices – whose willingness is not entirely clear – and his meticulous planning enables him to escape.
SAW opened nationwide on Friday, October 29, 2004. The film stunned industry observers by debuting at #3 with a weekend take of $18.4 million and it remained in the Top 10 for 4 weeks. Produced for just $1.2 million, SAW went on to worldwide box office earnings of over $102 million ($55.1 domestic, $47.7 international). It won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2004 San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival. SAW was released on DVD/home video on February 15, 2005; it debuted at #1 on the home entertainment charts and sold 2.8 million units in its first week. It was the top-selling horror DVD of 2005.
Saw II
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman
SAW II finds Jigsaw playing two games simultaneously: one involving eight victims who wake up in a crumbling house and must solve their mastermind’s riddle before their insides are destroyed by poison; and the other with Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), whose rebellious son is among the eight captives. Also among the abducted is Amanda (Shawnee Smith), who was introduced in SAW as the only victim to have survived Jigsaw’s tests. Desperate to save his son, Detective Matthews resorts, not for the first time, to brutality and trickery. It’s a decision that leads him right into a trap designed by Jigsaw in collaboration with his new apprentice: Amanda.
SAW II opened nationwide on Friday, October 28, 2005. It was the weekend’s #1 film with a box office tally of $31.7 million, outperforming SAW’s opening weekend by $12 million, an increase of approximately 60%. SAW II spent 7 weeks in the U.S. Top Ten, and was the most profitable horror film of 2005, with domestic theatrical box office receipts of $87 million. Internationally, SAW II opened at #1 in Australia, Brazil, Germany and Austria; its combined international box office was $66.4 million.
SAW II was released on DVD/home video on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2006; it debuted at #1 on the home entertainment charts, selling 2.5 million units on its first day and 3.5 million units in its first week. It was nominated for the 2006 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA; star Tobin Bell was nominated for the 2006 MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Villain.
Saw III
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Leigh Whannell
Story: Leigh Whannell and James Wan
As SAW III begins, Jigsaw’s health is failing and he is preparing his adoring acolyte, Amanda, to carry on his work. Amanda has designed numerous games herself, building various horrendous contraptions to test the survival instincts of her victims. A very important game involves a brain surgeon, Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), who is forced to operate on the dying man. Meanwhile, in another section of Jigsaw’s lair, a grieving father, Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) is given the barbed opportunity to fulfill his dreams of revenge. Like so many before him, Jeff lives down to Jigsaw’s expectations … with dire consequences for the people he loves.
SAW III opened nationwide on Friday, October 27, 2006. It was the weekend’s #1 film with a box office tally of $33.6 million, the biggest opening in Lionsgate history. It spent 4 weeks in the U.S. Top Ten, and was the most profitable horror film of 2006, with domestic theatrical box office receipts of $80.2 million. SAW III’s international box office receipts also totaled $82 million, and it marked the first Lionsgate film to open at #1 in Great Britain, where it took in $4.9 million in its first weekend.
SAW III was released on DVD / home video on January 23, 2007, debuting at #1 on the charts, selling 1.6 million units in the U.S. and Canada on its first day and 2.5 million units in its first week. It was the best-selling horror DVD of 2007, having sold 4.1 million units. SAW III was nominated for the 2007 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA; star Tobin Bell was nominated for the 2007 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain; Bell and Shawnee Smith received a joint Spike TV Scream Award nomination for Most Vile Villain.
Saw IV
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan
Story by Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton
Given that Jigsaw dies at the end of SAW III, it’s a testament to the ingenuity of the franchise that Jigsaw remains a prominent character in SAW IV. Says director Darren Lynn Bousman, “Jigsaw’s death in SAW III left us with a major creative challenge, but also a very exciting one. We had to do something really smart and different with this movie, lest we fall prey to sequel-itis or self-parody. SAW IV became an opportunity to up the ante and go even deeper into Jigsaw’s story, his philosophies and obsessions. Given whom Jigsaw is and what he’s done, we think it makes for quite a horrifying journey.”
SAW IV opened nationwide on October 26, 2007. It was the weekend’s #1 film with a box office tally of $31.7 million. It has since earned total domestic theatrical box office receipts of $63 million; the film’s international box office receipts have totaled over $73 million. SAW IV was released on DVD/home video on January 22, 2008, debuting at #2 on the charts and selling 2.6 million units in the U.S. and Canada. It is one of the top two best-selling horror DVDs of 2008. SAW IV has been nominated for three Spike TV Scream Awards (Best Sequel, Best Villain, Most Memorable Mutilation), to be handed out October, 2008.
Saw V (2008)
Directed by: David Hackl
Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Julie Benz, Greg Bryk, Meagan Good, Scott Patterson, Mark Rolston, Laura Gordon, Samantha Lemole, Sheila Shah, Athena Karkanis
Screenplay by: Marcus Dunstan
Production Design by: Anthony A. Ianni
Cinematography by: David A. Armstrong
Film Editing by: Kevin Greutert
Costume Design by: Alex Kavanagh
Set Decoration by: Liesl Deslauriers
Art Direction by: Graham Caswell, Elis Lam
Music by: Charlie Clouser
MPAA Rating: R for for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, language and brief nudity.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: October 24, 2008
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