Summary
- Saw X, the tenth installment of the franchise, will be a prequel story taking place between the first and second movies, focusing on John Kramer's journey to becoming Jigsaw.
- The release date for Saw X has been moved up from October 27 to September 29, 2023, as announced on the official Twitter account.
- Tobin Bell will reprise his role as John Kramer/Jigsaw, and Shawnee Smith will return as Amanda. Other cast members include Michael Beach, Synnøve Macody Lund, and Steven Brand, among others.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw was primed for a sequel, but the next, and possibly final, entry to the Saw franchise will be Saw X, seeing audiences return to the original Jigsaw's story and finally seeing how the Jigsaw killer got started — with Tobin Bell once more along for the gore-filled ride. Filmmaker James Wan captured audiences' attention with his directorial debut Saw in 2004, a singular film with a knockout twist that ended up spawning nine movies, including the offshoot Spiral. In 2023, the franchise is continuing with its tenth installment — Saw X.
Reviews for Spiral were mixed, but this has typically been the case for Saw movies. Over the years, the Saw franchise began to wane in terms of quality and viewership with each successive sequel. However, Jigsaw's many traps remain a highlight of the gory series, and plenty of viewers have stuck with Saw to the very end. Now, the seemingly impossible Saw X has set a release date, just two years after the last Saw movie. Presumably, James Wan hopes to finish out the Saw franchise with a bang, and here's everything that's known about Saw X.
Related: Spiral 2: What To Expect
The Latest Saw X News
The most recent Saw X news comes with the first theatrical trailer, which debuted in July 2023. The first Saw X trailer unveiled much about the newest Saw movie, including who would be the victims of Jigsaw and why they're being targeted. John Kramer learns he has cancer, and learns there are people in Mexico undergoing experimental treatment. He trusts them, but soon learns that the procedure they did was fake, and they just scammed him out of his money. This leads John to set up new traps and his assistant, Amanda, abducts each of them, and the games begin once again. This, as John said in the Saw X trailer, isn't just retribution, but a reawakening for the scam artists — they are all about to learn a valuable, and painful, lesson when the Saw X release date in September rolls around.
Saw X Release Date
The Saw X release date is set to be September 29, 2023, falling in line with the rest of the Saw releases that usually fall just in time for Halloween. Saw X will debut theatrically, and thus far, it hasn't been revealed what streaming service the movie will eventually go to. Saw X news came through that filming had officially wrapped in February 2023. The announcement came from Saw X writer Josh Stolberg via his Twitter, along with a giveaway of an official Tobin Bell-signed circular saw. Reportedly, filming on Saw X began in October 2022 in Mexico City, with all the production being finalized by February 2023.
Saw X was confirmed to be in development with Twisted Pictures all the way back in April 2021. Jigsaw and Spiral screenwriters Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger confirmed that the screenplay for Saw X was completed in December 2021. Kevin Greutert, who previously helmed Saw VI, was confirmed to be the Saw X director in August 2022, and only two months later it was revealed that Tobin Bell would be reprising his role as John Kramer/Jigsaw, placing the story in between the events of Saw and Saw II.
Saw X Cast & Crew
The biggest Saw X cast news was, of course, that Tobin Bell will reprise his role as the prolific serial killer John Kramer, aka Jigsaw. Kramer died during Saw III, but Saw X is a prequel film, taking place in between Saw and Saw II. Another character making a return to the Saw X cast is Shawnee Smith's Amanda, Kramer's protégé. This was shown in a great moment in the Saw X trailer when the masked person abducting the new victims took off the mask to show that it was Amanda gathering everyone who scammed John for the deadly games.
So far, John and Shawnee are the only two characters confirmed returning for Saw X. For the new characters, Synnøve Macody Lund (Ragnarok) plays what looks to be the doctor who engineered the scam to steal money from John for fake cancer treatments. Renata Vaca (Dale Gas) plays a young woman in on the scheme who pretended the doctors cured her cancer. Paulette Hernandez (My Demons Never Swore Solitude) is another doctor in on the scam. Octavio Hinojosa (How to Survive Being Single) plays another doctor taking part in the scamming of John Kramer, while Joshua Okamoto (The Club) is John's real doctor who reveals these people scammed him.
There are others in the Saw X cast in undisclosed roles, such as Michael Beach (Aquaman) and Steven Brand (Teen Wolf). Kevin Greutert (Saw VI) is returning to the James Wan franchise to direct the movie, while Josh Stolberg (Jigsaw) and Peter Goldfinger (Spiral) are penning the script.
In addition, actor Cary Elwes finally opened up about the possibility of his iconic Dr. Lawrence Gordon returning for Saw X. Speaking with ScreenRant before the release of his film Sweetwater, Elwes was asked if he'd ever considered playing the doctor again and if he had any interest in exploring the character further. Elwes, unfortunately, responded, "I have no comment one way or the other about that franchise, I really can’t speak to it. I’m happy for the filmmakers that they continue to make money, and that it seems to be a financial bonus for them, I really can’t speak to it, because I’m not really involved anymore."
Saw X Story
The Saw X story has finally been unveiled. Saw X is a prequel story to many movies in the franchise, set between the first and second Saw movies instead of a sequel taking place after Jigsaw or Spiral: From The Book Of Saw. In the first movie, Saw introduced Jigsaw for the first time and tempted two men to make terrible decisions by facing up to the sins of their past. However, later in the franchise, fans learned that Jigsaw was a man named John Kramer, and he was dying of cancer. Saw X will expand on this period, filling in the blanks and fleshing out John Kramer's story.
That is what the Saw X story is going to be all about. In Saw X, John heads down to Mexico in between Saw and Saw II when he learned there is a risky, experimental medical procedure that could save him. However, when he gets to Mexico, he undergoes all the treatment only to return home and learn they didn't do anything. It was all a scam to defraud the most vulnerable people in society — the terminally ill with no other hope. This leads John to take on the role of Jigsaw against these people, setting up his ingenious traps to teach them all a deadly and bloody lesson — and he has his prodigy Amanda there to help him.
What Traps Will Be In Saw X
There is one thing that the Saw X trailer showed in great detail — the new traps being introduced in the tenth Saw movie. John Kramer learned he only had months left to live after the doctors in Mexico scammed him with fake cancer treatments. He told his real doctor, he had a lot of work to do, and the trailer showed him drawing traps out in a notebook. The kind of traps will appear in Saw X has been one of the most widely speculated aspects of the prequel (they're a staple of the franchise, after all). Some of the traps look repetitive from past Saw movies, but the franchise has attempted to make each of the traps in the movies different in one way or another.
One of the Saw X traps that looked a lot like past movies had one of the doctors who scammed John hooked up to a machine, with her neck held in place by a rope. There was a wire in front of her throat, and the focus of this game is to do whatever she needs to in order to keep her head attached to her shoulders. There was another doctor in glimpsed in the Saw X trailer who also had his head also attached to a device. This one, however, looked more like large vice grips that included what looked like electrical wires strung throughout the headpiece. This seemed like a way to electrocute him should he fail Jigsaw's task.
This was the only Saw X trap that was extensively explained in the trailer. John was watching all the victims from a second-story window as they were in one big room. He then informed the male doctor that he had to do one thing to survive. He tells the man to fit a big enough piece of her cerebral tissue into the glass enzyme tank, and it will save his life. The man then starts digging into his own skull. There are also quick-cut scenes in the Saw X trailer of a man digging into his arm with a drill bit, a woman possibly sawing her leg off with wire, an explosion, someone lifted off the ground, and a thick liquid pouring on someone's face.
It is clear the Saw X traps are as disturbing and disgusting as any of the previous movies, but the rest of the traps are likely to wait until Saw X arrives to really delve into what makes them tick, and how the victims will escape — or die trying.
Related: When Will Saw 10 Take Place In The Franchise Timeline?
Saw X Trailer
The Saw X trailer hit at the end of July. This trailer unveiled the fact that the story's rumors all turned out to be true. John Kramer, sometime after the events in the first movie, learns he has cancer. When his doctor tells him there is nothing that can be done, he learns of an experimental treatment at a location in Mexico. A young woman explains that they saved her and helped cure her cancer, so John travels down to meet these doctors. They go through with a procedure where they claimed to remove the tumors and then send John on his way after he pays them. However, John soon learns that he still has cancer, and they didn't do anything in his surgery.
As someone unseen says in the trailer, he can't believe they chose John Kramer to scam. That was a good comment because John learns that he only has months left to live, and he sets up his new plan and designs new traps for his victims. As he said, he is not getting vengeance on them, he is giving them an awakening, and they have a chance to live if they play the games right. Billy the puppet also made his fun return. The biggest moment in the Saw X trailer comes at the end when the person abducting each of the scammers unmasks and shows that this is actually Amanda, and she is part of these games from the start.
