The Saw franchise went through a reboot with Spiral, the ninth installment in the franchise which continued its tradition of gore and violence but without the original Jigsaw killer, but should the franchise go through another reboot after the disappointing performance of Spiral? The horror genre peaked in the 1980s and went through a slower (and a bit rougher) time in the 1990s, but it went through a revival in the 2000s, with new talents arriving at the realm of horror and bringing new and fresh ideas. Such is the case of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the creators of the Saw franchise.
It all started with a short film in 2003 that went on to become a feature film in 2004, directed by Wan and starring Whannell as Adam Stanheight, one of the main characters. Saw got mixed reviews by critics but was very well received by the audience, making way for a franchise with nine movies and more in development. As happens with big franchises, especially in the horror genre, not all movies have been successful, and there have been two attempts so far to revive interest in it: Jigsaw, released in 2017, and Spiral, released in 2021, though both didn’t really have the impact writers and producers were hoping for.
Jigsaw went back and forth in time to serve as both a prequel and a continuation of the previous Saw movies, with the big “twist” and reveal of one of the victims in the first act of the movie being John Kramer’s first apprentice, meaning that part of the story happened years before the events of the first movie. Unsurprisingly, Jigsaw didn’t do well with critics and viewers, but that didn’t stop the studio from producing one more movie from this franchise. Spiral was sold to the audience as the rebirth of the Saw franchise and more of a spinoff than a direct sequel, more so as John Kramer and his story were left behind and it focused on a copycat killer instead. Spiral was better received but it still didn’t click with the audience, in big part due to the coronavirus pandemic limiting its exposure, so a question arises: should the Saw franchise go through another reboot after Spiral?
As Spiral has been said to not exactly being Saw IX, thus leaving open the possibility for a proper sequel to arrive at some point, rebooting the franchise one more time might not be the best idea. The Saw movies have been around since 2004, and with the arrival of new stories, styles, and more to the horror genre, and an obvious decrease in the quality of the stories of the franchise, the audience might not be interested in more Saw movies anymore. On the other hand, the advantage of Spiral not being a direct sequel to the Saw movies is that it can take the franchise in a new direction, with a story unrelated to John Kramer and a copycat killer with his own reasons and motivations to do what he does. Although a Saw X movie is in development, there’s also a TV series based on Spiral said to be in development, which could be an effective way to wipe the slate clean and move forward with new stories.
Ultimately, the ones who will decide if the Saw franchise should be rebooted again or not after the disappointing results of Spiral are viewers, as they might not be interested in anything from this universe anymore or they might be open to a new twist in it, which is what Spiral was intended to do. The Saw franchise can have a new life with a new direction that doesn’t involve John Kramer, but it all depends on whether the audience will be open to that after all these years of Saw movies or not.