As soon as Saw X, the tenth entry in the Saw franchise (you can read our review HERE), was released in September of 2023, franchise producers were already talking about the potential of a Saw XI. The sequel was officially announced in December of ’23, and while it was originally aiming for a September 2024 release, it was quickly pushed back to September 26, 2025, with Saw X director Kevin Greutert set to return to the helm, working from a screenplay by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who previously wrote Saw parts 4 through 7 (with Thomas Fenton also getting a story credit on Saw IV). Yesterday, we heard that the film has been cancelled due to an apparently unresolvable disagreement between the producers – and now, writer Melton has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he hasn’t heard anything more about the project since the first draft of the script was turned in almost a year ago.
Melton told The Hollywood Reporter, “We haven’t heard anything since May. 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. 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.“
A scooper called ViewerAnon has said, “For people asking why Lionsgate can’t step in, Twisted Pictures owns all rights to Saw. Lionsgate cannot force producers to start production no matter how much they want a new movie.” A source told Bloody Disgusting that the franchise might be sold off, and would likely “start over” if that happens. Industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider heard that Blumhouse has actually already made a play for the rights, but the deal fell apart.
What do you think of what’s going on with Saw XI? Are you hoping that Dunstan and Melton’s timely script will still make it into production? Would you like to see Blumhouse reboot the franchise? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
