10 Status Updates On Iconic Horror Movie Franchises

4. Saw

Jason Voorhees Pinhead Ghostface Freddy Krueger
Lionsgate

Last Film Entry: Jigsaw (2017)

What's Going On? Two further sequels, that's what's going on.

As of this writing, a new Saw movie is barely two weeks away. That picture is Spiral: From the Book of Saw, directed by the one and the same Darren Bousman who helmed Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV.

Nowadays primed for a 14 May 2021 release, Spiral is one of the many films hit hard by the global pandemic, with the movie initially pegged to arrive on the silver screen an entire year prior.

With some pondering whether Spiral would be a form of reboot for the Saw franchise, the film will very much be a straight-up sequel to the eight movies that have preceded it. This time out, Chris Rock's Detective Zeke Banks finds himself investigating a slew of gory murders reminiscent of the chaos and carnage caused by the Jigsaw Killer.

Joining Rock in Spiral, Samuel L. Jackson will play Zeke's estranged father (himself a lauded police veteran), while Max Mingella, Maisol Nichols and Zoie Palmer all have key roles.

Interestingly, Spiral only came about after Chris Rock got chatting to a Lionsgate higher-up at a mutual friend's wedding - with Rock suggesting some initial ideas for what would become Spiral: From the Book of Saw.

Away from Spiral, this month saw Lionsgate and James Wan's Atomic Monster banner announce a tenth Saw movie, titled Saw X. No plot details, cast or crew information, or a release date have been revealed for Saw X at this stage.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.