While it’s difficult to imagine a film franchise as foundational as Saw get shelved into the industry’s growing ranks of has-been IPs, it seems that the iconic horror series won’t be escaping from production purgatory anytime soon.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Monday, screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan revealed that “zero progress” has been made on the franchise’s next installment, Saw XI, after they turned in an initial draft last spring.
“We haven’t heard anything since May,” Melton, who has been involved with the series since Saw IV (2007), told the outlet. “It’s stalled at a managerial level. It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There’s higher-level things at play.”
Lionsgate announced in December 2023 that the franchise’s eleventh installment would release in September 2024 with director Kevin Greutert at the helm. The studio later delayed the film to a September 2025 release, though Melton reiterates that it “may or may not be made.”
According to the screenwriter, Saw XI was slated to tackle a “timely story” which he likened to the franchise’s 2009 film Saw VI—aka the one where health insurance executives get targeted by the series’ notorious murderer John Kramer (better known as Jigsaw).
“Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that,” Melton explained. “It taps into the same themes of Saw VI, where you’re a citizen, you feel angry and frustrated with something, you feel like you can’t do anything, and John Kramer’s going to do it.”
The film’s logline is arguably symptomatic of a similar chain of events that led to UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder in December last year
“The reason it’s held up is just, there’s inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate,” Melton continued. “They just can’t quite get on the same page.”
Lionsgate did not immediately reply to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The last Saw film to be released was 2023’s Saw X. The film was lauded by critics and stood its own ground in the box office earning $112 million globally—an incredibly triumphant showing for an R-rated, horror film.
