Update: It’s now official. Blumhouse Productions has bought the rights to the Saw franchise, or rather, they’ve purchased the 50% stake previously owned by Twisted Pictures.
In a statement, Twisted Pictures co-founder Oren Koules said it felt like “the right time to pass the baton,” while fellow co-founder Mark Burg said he wanted to “move on and tell new stories.“
Perhaps the most interesting tidbit comes from Blumhouse founder Jason Blum, who added that James Wan and Leigh Whannell will be brought “back in the fold” to help guide the franchise’s future. “Saw holds a special place in my heart,” Wan said. “Coming back to this world with a fresh perspective is both thrilling and deeply personal. For me, this will mark a significant creative return to the ‘Saw’ franchise for the first time since the early days, and I’m very much looking forward to embracing the original spirit whilst pushing the legacy forward in bold, unexpected ways.” I’ll be curious to see how involved Wan and Whannell will be with the franchise as it moves forward.
— Original article follows —
The company paid an undisclosed amount for the part of the franchise currently owned by producers Oren Koules and Mark Burg. In statements, Koules said it felt like “the right time to pass the baton,” while Burg said he wanted to “move on and tell new stories.”
According to Deadline, Blumhouse Productions is “acquiring the perspective rights to Twisted Pictures’ portion of the Saw franchise.” In other words, Blumhouse is taking over the rights previously held by Twisted Pictures founders Mark Burg and Oren Koules. Lionsgate, which still owns 50% of the franchise, will remain involved as a partner.
At the moment, no new Saw movie is in development, but when the smoke clears on this deal, we should hear something about how the franchise will move forward.
Interestingly, this move would bring the Saw franchise closer to James Wan. The Saw co-creator’s production company, Atomic Monster, officially merged with Blumhouse Productions last year. Of course, this doesn’t mean that he’ll have any involvement in the franchise again.
There had been reports of disagreements (to put it mildly) between Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate, and unfortunately, that led to the previously announced Saw XI being cancelled entirely. Given Saw X‘s critical and commercial success, it was a no-brainer that there would be a sequel. Kevin Greutert was slated to return to direct from a script by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Then suddenly, everything stopped.
Melton later added that they hadn’t heard anything about the project since May 2024. “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,” he said. “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. 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 reason it’s held up is just, there’s inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can’t quite get on the same page.“
Hopefully, this new deal with Blumhouse will get the Saw franchise back on track, but I will miss the Twisted Pictures production logo at the beginning. It always helped set the tone for whatever gruesome mayhem was in store for us.
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