Story seeds planted in Jigsaw will pay off in the next movie, claim directors the Spierig brothers. The Saw franchise’s combination of gruesome traps and outlandish twists powered it to 7 entries between 2004 to 2010, and while Saw Vll may have been labelled The Final Chapter, it was only a matter of time before they dusted off the Reverse Bear Trap and the game started all over again. Not even the death of main villain Jigsaw (AKA John Kramer) in the third movie stood in the way of further sequels.

While new instalment Jigsaw proved to be a box office hit, it’s received a mostly lukewarm reception. The film moved away from the more explicit gore of later sequels and attempted to introduce new elements to the mythology, but a lack of interesting new characters and a flat twist ending left fans disappointed. Nonetheless, the finale left the door open for further movies, and discussion about Saw 9 are already taking place.

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During an interview with Screen Rant for Jigsaw’s home video release, co-directors The Spierig Brothers claim the film secretly laid the story foundation for the next sequel. When asked how the film sets up a potential ninth movie, Peter Spierig had this to say:

There's a lot of things that go on in Jigsaw that we talked about where they could go in further movies, and so there's things with the characters and ideas that have the foundations of other things that could potentially come in the next couple of movies.

You want to make the movie itself a complete experience for the audience, a satisfying experience in terms of the story, of feeling like there is a conclusion. But at the same time, there are some questions about the characters and their arcs and things like that where we haven't explained. And we certainly talked about it with the producers and the writer and even the actors - where things potentially could go. It really becomes a question of does the audience want more? Are they keen to see these characters - the characters who survive and even sometimes the characters who don't survive can end up in another Saw film, based on its history. There's always room for flashbacks and who knows what.

Michael Spierig also stated they were “almost director for hire,” on the project, and they won’t be involved with the next Saw movie. Jigsaw left plenty of dangling story threads for a future movie to explore, and John Kramer can always return via flashbacks. The success of the film means another sequel is practically guaranteed, but hopefully, the next movie will add something fresh to the formula. The Spierig brothers' claim that they were essentially hired guns on Jigsaw is reflected in the final project; it’s competently made and features a couple of tense set pieces, but it adds nothing to the series that hasn’t been seen before.

While no story ideas have been revealed for the next entry yet, Jigsaw actor Tobin Bell recently revealed he’d like to dive further into the backstory of Billy the Puppet. The sinister doll has served as the avatar for Jigsaw in most of the movies, with Saw IV also revealing Billy was meant to be a toy for Kramer’s unborn child. Judging by Bell’s comments, maybe viewers will learn something new about him next time out.

More: Tobin Bell Would Return For Saw 9 – And Has A Backstory Idea For It

Jigsaw is available now on digital download, Blu-ray and DVD