Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols have officially joined the cast of Chris Rock's Saw movie. While the as-yet untitled film was only announced in May, it has since begun production under director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II-IV). Written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg (Jigsaw), the project is based on a story that Rock came up with and is described as a fresh take on the horror franchise. The movie has since been scheduled to hit theater in 2020, about sixteen years after Jame Wan's original Saw kicked things off.
Details beyond that have been hard to come by so far. The film is officially described as being a Saw "experience" that features the sort of deadly traps and mystery storyline that fans have come to expect from the property, but its connection to the previous eight films in the series remains up in the air for now. Fortunately, thanks to a new press release, some additional information has been revealed about the movie's cast and characters.
Lionsgate has now officially confirmed that filming on the latest Saw movie is underway, with Rock, Jackson, Minghella, and Nichols all playing key roles. Rock will star as a police detective investigating a string of grisly crimes, with Jackson costarring as Rock's onscreen father. Meanwhile, Minghella will play Rock's partner, William Schenk, and Nichols will portray his and Rock's boss, Angie Garza.
Critics didn't exactly hale the last Saw installment, Jigsaw, as a return to form for the franchise, but the film nevertheless made more than ten times its $10 million budget at the box office. Still, while the final incentive for more Saw movies remains, it's not entirely clear else is left to do with the property at this stage. The original Saw and its best sequels combined genuinely horrifying traps (designed to test their victims' will to live) with surprisingly effective social and/or political commentary, so the hope is that Rock's entry will follow in their footsteps, but also add some fresh ingredients to the mix. If nothing else, he's surrounded himself with a capable cast that includes the ever-prolific Jackson, Riverdale's Nichols, and The Handmaid's Tale's Minghella.
The untitled Saw movie is one of a handful of upcoming horror films that aim to revive a long-running series that's seen better days. There's also the Jordan Peele-produced Candyman sequel in development for a 2020 release, as well as a reboot of the Hellraiser movies by writer David S. Goyer (Krypton). David Gordon Green and Danny McBride successfully revived the Halloween series for Blumhouse last year, but it's anyone's guess as to whether Rock's Saw "experience" or any of these other reboots will turn out equally well in the end.
Source: Lionsgate