The Saw games are set to begin once again, this time coming from the most unexpected person possible.
Lionsgate has announced that Chris Rock is working on a reimagining of Saw, Variety reports. Yes, as in Chris Rock the comedian.
Rock said he's a huge fan of the horror series, which launched in 2004 and has consisted of eight films that have collectively grossed almost $1 billion at the global box office. "I am excited by the opportunity to take this to a really intense and twisted new place," he said.
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Although the most recent Saw entry, 2017's Jigsaw, revitalized the series after a seven year break, it sounds like Rock's film will not directly follow that up. Instead, Lionsgate said his vision, which he apparently described to them in "chilling" detail, "reimagines and spins off the world of the notorious Jigsaw Killer," although it will be "completely reverential to the legacy of the material."
Rock is certainly an unexpected choice, although plenty of comedians have made the jump to horror in recent years. Danny McBride and David Gordon Green in 2018 collaborated on a successful reboot of Halloween after being previously known for comedy, and Jordan Peele moved from the Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele into being one of the most respected horror directors working today with Get Out and Us.
The new Saw is set to be produced by Rock and based on his original idea, although the screenplay will be written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, and it will be directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who previously directed the second, third, and fourth Saw films. It's set to release in October 2020.
