Leigh Whannell is currently enjoying the success of his new film, The Invisible Man, which opened at the top of the US box office and has reviewed well. The director and writer, who has just signed on to create more horror films for Blumhouse, is also instrumental in one of the most important horror franchises of the 2000s--he wrote and starred in the original Saw, and then wrote Saw II and III as well.

　　In an interview with Fandom, Whannell has reflected on the Saw films--particularly the first one--and recalls that he and director James Wan had lower aspirations than you might expect. "We never intended that movie to connect with people the way it did," he says. "Our goal was to make a straight-to-video film. This was 2003. Video stores were still a thing." Whannell says that he and Wan were big fans of video stores, and that they thought "it would really be cool if we could land in Blockbuster on that shelf."

　　You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

　　Click To Unmute

　　Tears Of The Kingdom Is A Technological Marvel

　　Resident Evil 4 Is A Perfect RemakeHow Alan Wake II Made Me Face My Fear of Horror GamesGameSpot's Top 10 Games of 2023Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - LoadoutFirearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerHow Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Chitose Fujinomiya Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight Trailer

　　Share

　　LinkEmbed

　　Size:640 × 360480 × 270

　　Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

　　Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

　　Sign up or Sign in now!

　　Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

　　This video has an invalid file format.

　　00:00:00

　　HTML5

　　Auto HD High Low

　　Report a problem

　　Sorry, but you can't access this content!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

　　By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

　　Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

　　enter

　　Now Playing: Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (2020) - Official Trailer

　　Saw went on to gross over $100 million worldwide on a budget of $1.2 million, and the series continued to expand from there. Whannell's last writing credit for the series was on Saw III, which ends with the brutal death of Jigsaw, the serial killer behind the film's murders. "The last Saw movie I wrote was the third one and I killed the villain," Whannell recalls. "Doesn’t get more definitive than that. He’s dead!"

　　But, of course, the series continued on after this, despite Whannell stepping away from writing them. "They came to me and said ‘Let’s get into it. Let’s do Part 4!' And I said 'No, I think we’re done here.' And they said 'No, we’re not done but thanks for your time!’"

　　Whannell says that he feels that they created a sort-of "millennial Freddy Krueger," as although Jigsaw's death was never reversed, he continued to be a part of the series from beyond the grave. "In the same way I used to go to sleepovers in my teens and watch Freddy movies, millennial kids were doing that with Saw movies. I still have people come up to me and go 'When I was a kid I grew up on Saw movies.' So that’s pretty cool."

　　A new movie in the Saw franchise, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, will release May 15, 2020. It will be the ninth film in the series. It has, by far, the most famous cast of any film in the franchise--it's is written by and stars Chris Rock alongside Samuel L. Jackson. Whannell is attached as a producer.

　　Tobin Bell, who played Jigsaw in the other eight movies, is not credited as appearing in Spiral--so if he does, it will be a surprise.