©Courtesy of Lionsgate
Blumhouse is reportedly in the final stages of cutting a deal that would allow it to acquire the rights to the billion-dollar Saw horror franchise from Twisted Pictures. Negotiations have been ongoing since 2023, but for a time were in limbo due to disagreements over the bottom line.
Sources say that the deal would enable Blumhouse to partner with Lionsgate for future projects involving the franchise, which had been co-created by director James Wan and Leigh Whannell. According to the terms of the proposed deal, Lionsgate would retain its 50% stake in the project and would continue to distribute any future installments. If approved, the deal would give Wan an ownership stake in the project via his Atomic Monster production company, which had merged with Blumhouse in January of 2024. Control of the Saw franchise is now in the hands of Mark Burg and Oren Koules of Twisted.
James Wan directed the original Saw film back in 2004, and he has remained as executive producer for subsequent installments. Wan, a 48-year-old Australian filmmaker born in Malaysia, is also noted as the creator of The Conjuring Universe and of the Insidious franchise. As of 2021, he was the 16th highest-grossing director of all time, his films having earned more than $3.7 billion worldwide. They include Furious 7 in the Fast & Furious franchise and two films in the DC Extended Universe: Aquaman and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Over the course of the past 20 years, Saw has grown to be one of the most profitable horror franchises, including video games, theme-park attractions, comic books, and licensed merchandise. Launched with a $1.2 million budget, the Saw franchise eventually grossed some $104 million globally. Its tenth film, Saw X, was released in 2023, but Saw XI, scripted by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunston, was put on hold due to creative disagreements between Lionsgate and its producers. It’s not clear, however, whether the franchise’s next debut will be in the form of a film, television series, or whether it will take some other format.