James Wan revealed that he wants to “make a scary ‘Saw’” as he returns to the major horror franchise. Wan spoke with Letterboxd at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where the festival held a legacy screening of the original “Saw.”
GettyJames Wan and Leigh Whannell Return to ‘Saw’
In 2004, Wan and co-writer Leigh Whannell brought “Saw” to Sundance for a midnight premiere. The film garnered enough buzz that Lionsgate picked up the film and had it in theaters by the end of the year. “Saw” would go on to spawn a massive franchise consisting of 10 films as of 2026. However, Wan has not been directly involved with the projects since “Saw III.”
“I’m probably the one person in that world that has been the most removed from the franchise in that regard, other than giving my blessing throughout multiple films,” he said.
Now, Wan and Whannell are back in the picture. Blumhouse, Jason Blum’s powerhouse production company, acquired the rights to future “Saw” movies in mid-2025. Wan’s company, Atomic Monster, merged with Blumhouse in 2024. Blumhouse’s purchase of “Saw” from Twisted Pictures now puts the franchise under Wan and Whannell’s control again.
“What really excites me about bringing Saw to Blumhouse is having James and Leigh back in the fold and to see the future of the franchise come to life with their guidance,” Blum told Deadline at the time.
Making A New, ‘Psychologically Scarring’ Saw
While “Saw XI” is in only the early stages or production, Wan has a vision for the film.
Speaking on the first “Saw,” Wan rejected the idea of the film being just “torture porn.”
“If you go back and watch the first ‘Saw’ film, it’s actually not as hardcore as people remember it being,” he said.
He noted that the film is “not just gory, but psychologically scarring.” He and Whannell hope to bring back those vibes with the next “Saw” film.
“Leigh and I both want to recapture the spirit of that first film and revisit Jigsaw’s philosophy,” he continued.
Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the force behind the iconic “Saw” traps, is the primary antagonist of the franchise. The serial killer believes that most people don’t appreciate their lives enough, leading him to put unlucky individuals in traps in order to test their will to survive.
“Jigsaw became basically an antihero in a lot of ways,” Wan added.
Because he’s spent so much time away from the series, Wan believes he’s capable of looking at “Saw” with fresh eyes and a “new perspective.” Despite wanting to bring back the energy of the first “Saw,” he also wants to breathe new life into the franchise.
“We need to do something different in order to reach out to a new generation that didn’t grow up with it,” Wan concluded.
