Spiral co-writer Josh Stolberg teases Jigsaw will return in the new Saw sequel and offers an update on development of the next chapter. The latest installment in the iconic horror franchise served as a semi-spinoff for the film and shifted the focus to Detective Ezekiel Banks as he and his new rookie partner William Schenk are tasked with tracking down a killer copying Jigsaw's M.O. of deadly traps in the midst of an intense heatwave. Chris Rock led the ensemble cast of Spiral: From the Book of Saw alongside Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols and Samuel L. Jackson.
Development on Spiral began in 2017 shortly after the release of the franchise revival Jigsaw, which served as both a prequel and sequel to the original series of films. While the studio explored various ways to keep the ball rolling on its renewed success, Rock would approach Lionsgate with his own take for the Saw series and developed a story treatment for the project while Jigsaw writers Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger were attached to pen the script. With franchise veteran Darren Lynn Bousman back at the helm, Spiral would hit theaters in mid-2021 to mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its efforts to take the franchise in a new direction while others felt it ultimately failed in this attempt.
Over half a year after the last film hit theaters, Spiral co-writer Josh Stolberg took to Twitter to offer an update on development for the next Saw sequel. Stolberg shared an image of himself, co-writer Peter Goldfinger and franchise producers Oren Koules and Mark Burg at work "polishing up" the script and teasing Jigsaw's return for the new film. Check out the exciting tease below:
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The decision to keep the Saw franchise going shouldn't come as much of a surprise given the financial success the films have enjoyed even as critical favor progressively dropped with each film. Spiral did mark an interesting new chapter for the series, with the marketing hiding the true nature of the film's connection to its overall franchise and whether Tobin Bell's Jigsaw would ultimately appear. Though his absence divided some eager to see the killer mastermind return to the screen, he would still appear in a photo cameo akin to some of Stan Lee's cameos throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe and be established as the inspiration for the film's new killer.
While Stolberg's tease may not offer much in the way of insight to what the film will be, the Spiral writer's update on the new Saw sequel should come as a pretty exciting development for fans of the franchise. Prior to the last film's release, Bousman noted his and the producers' surprise at the premature announcement of the sequel's development while also noting that Spiral was not inherently Saw IX but rather a separate story within the overall series and that a new sequel could serve as a follow-up to Jigsaw. With the script now in its polishing stage, audiences should look forward to hearing further updates on the next Saw franchise in the near future.
Source: Josh Stolberg/Twitter