Leigh Whannell has revealed that he is not such a fan of the newer Saw sequels.
Whannell co-wrote the original 2004 Saw movie with James Wan. This horror movie was a monumental hit, launching their careers and earning $103.9 million at the box office with a $1-1.2 million budget. Whannell, who also starred in the original film as Adam, went on to write the screenplays for Saw II and Saw III as well. After the third movie, he left the series as a creative force, retaining an executive producer credit only.
Since his departure, Saw has continued as a franchise, with seven more sequels being thrown into the mix. The most recent entry was Saw X, which was released in 2023 to some of the best reviews of the franchise.
Whannell attended BlumFest at New York Comic Con 2024 to promote his upcoming horror film, Wolf Man. ComingSoon caught up with Whannell to see what he thinks of some of the newer Saw movies.
Does Leigh Whannell like the new Saw sequels?
Whannell admitted, “For me, I am not such a fan of the latest Saw movies. It’s not that I think they’re bad movies; it’s just that I’ve separated myself from that. Like, I feel like they should have ended it with the third movie, you know?”
Saw III, released in 2006, brought the series to an apparent conclusion with John Kramer’s death. The newer Saw movies have continued the storyline, introducing new Jigsaw killers and, at times, setting itself earlier in the timeline so that Tobin Bell can remain a part of the franchise to play his character.
“A reality of Hollywood is that when someone owns that IP, they can keep doing it,” says Whannell. “They do it. It’s not really up to you anymore. Also, I meet these Saw fans, and they love Saw V or VI or VII. You know, so I don’t wanna take anything away from them. So I’m happy that it continues over there. And then I’ve got this other life over here, where I’m making my own movies.”
Following his departure from the Saw franchise, Whannell continued to work as a screenwriter, writing movies like Insidious and Dead Silence. He made his feature directorial debut with Insidious: Chapter 3 and then saw renewed critical success as the writer and director of the 2018 movie Upgrade and the 2020 film The Invisible Man.
“What’s great now is people will come up to me and talk about movies I’ve directed,” Whannell reflects. “They’ll say like, ‘I love Upgrade,’ or ‘I love Invisible Man.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, wow. I’m experiencing this second life as a director.’ So I’m just really happy about that. You know, it means I’m more comfortable to let Saw be a thing over there now that I’ve got my own thing going.”
