Saw X Producers Reveal Spiral’s Biggest Flaw And The Future Of Jigsaw

This one was in development for a few years. Was there always an intention to do something like «Spiral,» which is a little more off the beaten track, and then circle back and get back to the roots?

Mark Burg: We thought we were going to do this movie in 2018. We were developing it with Josh [Stolberg] and Pete [Goldfinger], the writers. Then, Chris Rock met Michael Burns at a wedding, and next thing you know, Michael Burns — who’s one of the heads of Lionsgate — was calling Oren and myself saying, «Hey, I just met Chris Rock. He loves ‘Saw.’ He has an idea for a ‘Saw’ movie he wants to do — call him.»

That took a two- or three-year journey with «Spiral,» between COVID and everything else. We decided we would do «Spiral,» and we tried to. It was «Saw,» but it’s not «Saw.» It can’t be a «Saw» movie without Tobin Bell. So we did that, and then we decided we’d come back and tell the story that we wanted to before we got involved with that.

Even when he’s not been the central character, Tobin and Jigsaw have always lurked around the edges. Was it easy to get him to come back and be front and center in this one?

Oren Koules: He’s thrilled to show his acting chops. The first 25 minutes of the movie, he’s [just] John Kramer. It’s by far the longest he’s ever been in a movie. It shows his chops, and he loves his character. He loves the transition from John Kramer to Jigsaw in this one.

Burg: Tobin will read the script. First, he’d say he has to read the script, and he’d read it, and he’d be like, «Okay, I love this, but John wouldn’t say this, and John wouldn’t say that, and Jigsaw would say it this way…» He’s kind of two different people. He’ll sit there and literally rewrite his dialogue in a way that it is him, and he’s generally always right. It may be a little bit different, and the writers are great to bring him in and let him help pre-craft his character.