Saw

Films

Future

In September 2023, producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules stated there were tentative plans for future installments in the Saw series, dependent on the reception and success of Saw X (2023). Later that month, Josh Stolberg—co-writer of Jigsaw (2017), Spiral (2021), and Saw X—announced that there were active plans for an eleventh installment. Both Burg and Koules stated that the mid-credits scene of Saw X was intended to set up a future film which would again include the character Mark Hoffman. The character Cecilia was intentionally left alive for a possible sequel to expand her character upon. The following month, Kevin Greutert—director of Saw VI (2009), Saw 3D (2010), and Saw X—told The Hollywood Reporter that, "there are so many directions we could go, but for me, there's no obvious one coming out of this film. I really wanted it to feel like a kind of final send-off for the Jigsaw character, but never say never". In October 2024, Tobin Bell was officially confirmed by Los Angeles Times to be reprising once again his role as John Kramer / Jigsaw in the film, teasing that the character "isn't done" yet and there is more to learn about him.

In December, Lionsgate confirmed Saw XI on their Instagram account, with a release date of September 27, 2024. However, in April 2024, the film was delayed to September 26, 2025. Koules stated the film would likely be a direct sequel to Saw X. Greutert was set to direct. In March 2025, it was reported that work on the film had stalled. Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who wrote the fourth to the seventh film, turned in a draft of the script in mid-2024. However, in August later that year, Oren Koules confirmed it was cancelled due to "[having] a difference of opinion [with Mark Burg], and we couldn't resolve it."

In June 2025, Blumhouse Productions bought Twisted Pictures' stake in the franchise, with Lionsgate still being involved. Franchise co-creator James Wan will be creatively involved with a new Saw film for the first time since Saw III (2006). In October 2025, Jason Blum announced Wan's creative return to the franchise, expressing a desire that Wan's creative outlook returns to the franchise.

Short films

Saw, often referred to as Saw 0.5, is a 2003 short film that served as a promotional tool in pitching a feature-length version to Lionsgate. It is included on the second disc of the uncut DVD release of Saw. It has also been released alone, and on the Saw Trilogy DVD containing Saw Uncut Edition, Saw II Special Edition, and Saw III Director's Cut, packaged with a limited-edition 3D puppet-head box version of Billy the Puppet.

A mockumentary short film, Full Disclosure Report, was released in 2005 as part of the Saw: Uncut DVD-release. The story takes place between the first and second films and features reporters trying to figure out who Jigsaw is and discussing his victims. The short film marks the first appearance of detective Eric Matthews, before his appearance in Saw II.

Another mockumentary short film, The Scott Tibbs Documentary, was released in 2006 as part of the Saw II: Unrated Special Edition DVD-release. The story takes place between the second and third films, where Adam Stanheight's friend Scott Tibbs, leader of the rock band "Wrath of the Gods", is filming a documentary about Jigsaw and his victims.

Saw: Rebirth is originally a comic book released by IDW in 2005 and tells the story of the events that spurred the transformation of John Kramer into Jigsaw. Later, it was released as a short film in the form of a motion comic on the original Saw II website.

Television

In 2008 and 2010, VH1 channel aired the reality show Scream Queens, produced by Joke Productions and Lionsgate Television. The show chronicles a group of unknown actresses competing for a role in the Saw VI and Saw 3D.

In April 2021, Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs announced in an interview with Deadline Hollywood that Lionsgate TV was in early talks on a television series adaptation or continuation of the film Spiral.

Series overview

Story

The series takes place primarily in an unnamed city in the United States. Flashbacks from Saw IV reveal the roots of the series, presenting John Kramer as a successful civil engineer and devoted husband to his wife Jill Tuck, who opened a rehab clinic for drug addicts. Jill loses her unborn son due to the unwitting actions of a drug addict named Cecil, who flees the scene. Saw VI later showed that another drug addict, Amanda Young, had been with Cecil on the night that he unwittingly caused the miscarriage, unbeknownst to John or Jill. Grieving the loss of his child, John distances himself from his friends and wife.

John and Jill eventually drift apart and divorce. John finds himself trapped by his own complacency until he is diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Bitter over his squandered life and the loss of his unborn son, he observes the lives of others and believes they do not value the gift of life. He approaches an insurance executive named William Easton, asking for coverage for an experimental cancer treatment, but is denied. Flashbacks from Saw II show that, after surviving a suicide attempt where he drives his car off a cliff, John is "reborn", and nurtures the idea that the only way for someone to change is for them to change themselves. Then, in Saw IV flashbacks, he designs the first trap and test for Cecil, and decides to use the rest of his existence to design more of these "tests" or "games" as a form of "instant rehabilitation" that would change the world "one person at a time". John is soon given the nickname "The Jigsaw Killer" (or "Jigsaw"), because he removes a puzzle piece-shaped chunk of flesh from those who do not escape his traps. John states that this name was given to him by the media, and that the cut piece of flesh represent that the victims were missing what he called the "survival instinct".

Few of John's victims can survive his brutal mechanical traps, which are often ironically symbolic representations of problems in the victim's life and require them to undergo severe physical and/or psychological torture to escape.

Jigsaw depicts one of John's first games, which never becomes public. The only survivor is Logan Nelson, the man who accidentally mislabeled John's x-rays, causing his cancer to go undiagnosed until it was too late. Believing Logan should not die over an honest mistake, John saves him before he is killed by one of the traps, and recruits him as his first apprentice. Logan helps John build several traps for future games, but for unknown reasons seemed to part ways with John by the events of Saw VI, since he is not mentioned in John's will or seen in any capacity.

Recurring elements

Billy the Puppet

Billy is a puppet resembling a ventriloquist's dummy, sometimes seen riding a tricycle, that has appeared throughout the films and has become a type of mascot for the series. It is used by the Jigsaw Killer to communicate with his victims by delivering televised messages or occasionally in person to describe details of the sadistic traps and the means by which the victims could survive. Viewers have sometimes incorrectly identified the puppet itself as Jigsaw, because of its presence and connection to the killer.

Age and use of the puppet over the course of the films necessitated its reconstruction. According to James Wan, the original puppet's face for Saw involved clay, papier-mâché, and black ping-pong balls with the irises painted in for the eyes, but in later films more sophisticated construction included waterjet-cut foam for the body and remote-controlled animatronics.

The endurance and popularity of the franchise has resulted in the production of Billy merchandise, as well as references in other media and its use in promotions for the films.

The bathroom

The bathroom trap, originating in Saw, can be seen throughout the franchise and was repeatedly used as or housed traps. It is seen in the mid-credits of Saw X against one of Cecilia Peterson's partners, Henry Kessler. It appeared in Saw II, Saw III, Saw 3D and Saw X. It became iconic and, with Billy the Puppet, are a symbol of the franchise and has been kept for over 20 years.

"Hello Zepp"

"Hello Zepp" is a piece of instrumental music that was originally composed by Charlie Clouser for the first film in the series. In Saw, the implied villain, Zep Hindle, is revealed to actually be a victim of the Jigsaw Killer. The character's name in the script is spelled "Zep", whereas the music titles are spelled "Zepp" as a reference to the popular '80s band Zapp. As the series continued, the piece was reused in every film as a leitmotif, often being renamed and remixed to accommodate the changing situations and characters. The music was used in every Saw ending, usually during the revealing of plot revelations and twists which Saw films often use and it serves as the main theme tune for the whole series.

Reception

Box office performance

Saw grossed $18.2 million its opening weekend and had become Lionsgate's second-best opening, after Fahrenheit 9/11's $23.9 million (2004). Saw went on to gross $103 million worldwide, and is the fourth-lowest-grossing film in the series after Jigsaw, Saw VI, and Spiral. At the time, it became the most profitable horror film after Scream (1996). It is the seventh-highest-grossing Halloween opening weekend. Saw II opened at number one with $31.7 million, and set a Lionsgate Halloween opening-weekend record and is also the third-highest-grossing Halloween opener. It became at the time, the widest release in Lionsgate history and one of the best opening weekends for a horror sequel. It is Lionsgate's fourth-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada. Saw III placed first by grossing $33.6 million its opening weekend, making it the biggest Halloween debut ever and at the time, Lionsgate's highest-opening weekend. It is the highest-grossing film in the series worldwide. It has the highest-grossing weekend in the series and also Lionsgate's fifth-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada.

Saw IV premiered at number one with $32.1 million making it the second-best Halloween weekend opener. In Saw V's opening weekend it placed second, being beat by High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and made $30.1 million. It is Lionsgate's tenth-highest-grossing film. Saw VI opened in second place behind Paranormal Activity to $14.1 million, which is the lowest of all the Saw films worldwide. It is also the lowest-grossing film in the series. Saw 3D placed first grossing $22.5 million its opening weekend, with 92% of tickets coming from more than 2,100 3D-equipped locations. It had the fifth-best opening weekend in the Saw series. It is the most successful film in the franchise since Saw IV. In the United States and Canada, Jigsaw was released alongside Thank You for Your Service and Suburbicon, and is projected to gross around $20 million from 2,941 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1.6 million from Thursday night previews at 2,400 theaters, just below the $1.7 million Saw 3D made from midnight screenings seven years prior, and $7.2 million on its first day. It went on to open to $16.64 million, finishing first at the box office but marking the second lowest debut of the franchise. In its second weekend the film dropped 61% to $6.56 million, finishing third behind newcomers Thor: Ragnarok and A Bad Moms Christmas. In its third weekend, the film dropped another 47% and made $3.43 million, finishing fifth.

The Saw series, when compared to the other top-grossing American horror series—A Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Scream, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre—and adjusting for 2023 inflation, is the fifth highest grossing series with $688.3 million. Halloween is the highest-grossing horror series in the United States at approximately $1.09 billion, with Friday the 13th in second at $908.4 million, The Nightmare on Elm Street series is in third with $793.5 million. The Scream film series is in fourth place with $779.5 million. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series is in sixth with $459.7 million, and the Child's Play film series rounding out the list with $305.2 million.

Critical and public response

On IGN's list of the top twenty-five film franchises of all time, the Saw series ranked as 25th. Rotten Tomatoes ranked the series as the 7th-best horror franchise of all time.

Other media

Video games

Japanese video game company Konami currently owns the rights to the Saw interactive video game property. Konami stated in mid-2009 that they wanted to make Saw a series of video games to supplement the films. They also wished to make Saw their next big survival horror franchise next to their other property, Silent Hill. They stated that because Saw focuses on visual intensity and Silent Hill focuses on psychological terror, both could exist in the video game industry without directly competing against each other. The first game in the series, Saw, set between the first and second film in the series, was released on October 6, 2009, with a sequel Saw II: Flesh & Blood, released on October 19, 2010, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, ten days before the release of the seventh film, Saw 3D. The PC version was in development, but was cancelled. The build of the game for Microsoft Windows was discovered in the leak of 12 terabytes of Steam files in August 2026.

A downloadable Saw chapter for the asymmetrical horror game Dead by Daylight was released on January 23, 2018, featuring David Tapp as a survivor and Amanda Young as a killer alongside Gideon Meat Plant as a map.

Billy the Puppet has appeared as a playable character in the video games Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Fortnite, and in a decal and as a goal explosion in Rocket League. Billy the Puppet was also featured on Delta Force in addition to the franchise-based chainsaw and weapon skins.

In October 2021, Twisted Productions co-founders Burg and Koules confirmed a third Saw video game was in development for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. In January 2026, Lionsgate mentioned the upcoming Saw game during an earnings call. In June of the same year, Lionsgate announced it would be a multiplayer game published by Bloober Team titled Saw: Genesis.

Comic books

Saw: Rebirth, a comic book prequel to the original film released to promote Saw II. Its canonicity was later contradicted by events in Saw IV. It is, however, the first canonical appearance of Jigsaw's wife, Jill, who was later introduced into the film series in Saw III and established still-canonical elements of Jigsaw's backstory (an engineer who is dying from brain cancer).

Theme park attractions

"Saw – The Ride" is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster themed around the franchise, which opened on March 13, 2009, at Thorpe Park in the United Kingdom. It features an enclosed dark ride section with special effects, before traveling outside and climbing a 100-foot vertical lift hill into a steep 100-degree beyond-vertical drop passing under large rotating saw blades.

Thorpe Park opened a temporary Saw attraction called "Saw – Movie Bites" for their 2009 Fright Nights event.

Thorpe Park added a permanent, year-round live action horror maze themed around the Saw movies. Named "Saw: Alive", it opened at the start of the 2010 season, and featured six scenes representing one iconic trap from the first six films. It ceased year-round operations at the start of the 2012 season, instead only operating during Fright Nights (Thorpe Park's annual Halloween event). It closed permanently after the 2018 season.

"Saw: Game Over" was a 2009 horror maze made by Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights, based on characters, traps and scenes from the films. At the Universal Studios Hollywood rendition of Horror Nights it was titled Saw: Game Over, while at the Universal Studios Florida rendition, it was simply titled Saw.

"Saw", a themed haunted house, operated during the month of October at Fright Dome, Circus Circus Las Vegas. It featured interactive, handcrafted replicas of the "games" set by Jigsaw. It was introduced in 2009 and partnered with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures.

In 2018, a themed escape room called "Saw Escape Las Vegas" was made by the creators of Fright Dome. It is officially licensed by LionsGate and is also located in the city of Las Vegas in Nevada, USA as the name suggests.

In 2010, "Halloween Fright Nights" at Warner Bros. Movie World featured a maze created by Sudden Impact Entertainment, featuring characters, traps and scenes from the films. The maze was simply titled "Saw Maze".

"Saw Haunted Attraction" was a maze at the Brea Plaza Shopping Center in 2008 created by Sinister Pointe Haunted Attractions.

Podcast

In 2021, as part of the promotion for Spiral, a 9-episode podcast called Seeing Saw: The Official Spiral Podcast was released. In 2023, as part of the promotion for Saw X, the podcast was continued for three episodes under the title Seeing Saw: The Official Podcast.

Merchandising

Merchandising includes Billy the Puppet dolls, Jigsaw figurines and costumes, and Pig mask figurines and masks.