John Kramer, a.k.a.
Jigsaw, the cancer-stricken, torture trap-building big bad from theSawfranchise.
“[But] how long can we suspend disbelief when the guy has terminal cancer?”
Tobin Bell in ‘Saw X’.Lionsgate
“He opens the movie, he’s through the whole movie, and he ends the movie.”
Saw Xis set between the events of 2004’sJames Wan-directedSawand the following year’sSaw II.
And we go from there."
Tobin Bell in ‘Saw X’.Lionsgate
The previous entry,Spiral: From the Book of Saw, was a departure for the series.
The film starred franchise newcomersChris RockandSamuel L. Jacksonwith no Bell at all.
“This was the movie Oren and myself were planning on making,” he says.
Shawnee Smith in ‘Saw X’.Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla/Lionsgate
According to Burg, “Chris Rock goes, ‘Oh, you work at Lionsgate?
I got an idea for one.'”
Burg explains that, “originally, we were bringing it way more into theSawuniverse, with Tobin Bell.
‘Saw X’.Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla/Lionsgate
Lionsgate convinced us to do a standalone movie.
We decided to go back and do the story that we originally planned on doing.”
Greutert feels this new movie is the “great work” of the actor’s life.
Not that he has a dark side like that, but as an artist.
He has an integrity that’s really recognizable in John Kramer’s character.
And he’s always right in this regard."
Shawnee Smith’s character Amanda also appeared in the firstSawmovie, playing one of Jigsaw’s victims.
She later became one of Kramer’s accomplices.
Koules explains that, while Amanda’s return makes commercial sense, it also fits withSawlore.
“It’s afterSaw I, and she’s lived through the trap.
She’s been reborn or whatever, so time-wise it worked,” the producer says.
Bell and Smith are now 15-plus years older than when they played their characters in the first threeSawfilms.
I’m personally glad that we didn’t tamper with them at all.
Arguably, therealstars ofSaw Xare not its cast but the film’s baroquely engineered array of traps.
(The clip remains widely available to watch on the internet.)
“It’s like Voldemort.
It’s the Thing That Shall Not Be Named,” producer Koules says, with a laugh.
“It was 100 percent the genius of the marketing team at Lionsgate,” Burg adds.
“It’s a shame that AMC did not share our joy in it.”
Still, you’re able to’t keep a good evil puppet down.
Being in aSawmovie, it seems, is no torture at all.
Saw Xwill be released Sept. 29.
