The next Saw movie has found its director, with horror filmmaker Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn, Silent Night, Deadly Night) on board to helm the project alongside returning producer James Wan.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, this will mark the first film since 2006’s Saw III to see Wan return to the franchise since he created the franchise in 2004. Lionsgate will release the film from Blumhouse Atomic Monster, with the film also marking the next project between the studio and director Nelson following their work on the upcoming monster horror movie Beware Boiúna, which is due out in October this year.
“Making the original Saw was a defining experience for me, so it was essential to find a director who would honour that world,” Wan said in a statement. “Mike has a raw, distinctive filmmaking voice with an inventive approach to the genre, and I believe he’ll bring something truly unique and special to the franchise.”
Wan co-created and co-wrote the first Saw film alongside Leigh Whannell (who also starred as the first film’s main protagonist Adam), with the movie also serving as his directorial debut. The franchise first began as a low-budget project with scenes mostly contained to a single room, but gradually grew into a billion-dollar franchise surrounding a serial killer who places his victims in elaborate death traps. To date, there have been 10 entries in the franchise, the most recent of which is 2023’s Saw X, which garnered US$125.3 million globally on a budget of US$13 million.
Wan and Whannell will produce the new instalment with Jason Blum, with its script being written by Gregory Weidman and Geoff Tock, the writer duo known for 2019’s In the Shadow of the Moon and the 2024 series Dune: Prophecy. This also marks the first project since Blumhouse acquired a stake in Saw from Twisted Pictures in 2025, returning the franchise to Wan.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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