15 Great Film Franchises Ruined By Too Many Sequels And Remakes
3. Saw
Film Count: 8 (9th released in 2020)
The tricycle-riding Jigsaw playing violently elaborate puzzles with his victims turned out to be one of the most financially successful horror franchises in cinema history.
It was the directional debut of a very young James Wan and the Australian used the success of the early Saw films to turn into one of Hollywood's greatest components of the genre before moving into the blockbuster scene with Furious 7 and Aquaman.
Wan was able to pull off the first movie with a shooting budget of $700,000 and filmed the entire project over just 18 days. It was a great success on opening weekend of release, so much so that a sequel was green-lit immediately, thus beginning the flood of projects in the new series.
Seven films were released in seven consecutive years as each script tried to outdo the last for violence and intrigue. Unfortunately it didn't always equate to success.
The box office peaked at just the second film despite more and more investment in the following films, with the North American revenue dropping every film through to Saw VI before a slight rebound for the final instalment of the original series, Saw 3D, which was still the second-lowest grossing of the franchise.
The saga was a critical see-saw with ratings fluctuating anywhere from average to terrible after the original two films.
The impending release of The Organ Donor to continue the series in 2020 could genuinely be anything from a series resurrection to an absolute shocker.