Is The Saw Franchise Ready For the Small Screen?

Lionsgate Television is jumping into the streaming competition, and they plan to come out swinging. The studio is exploring the possibility of a Saw television show. The Saw films were a huge financial success at the box office, and are looking to duplicate that for the small screen.

In an interview with Deadline, Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs discusses his plans for expanding their content. “We’ve just wrapped up Dear White People which was a really good experience, Blindspotting is coming up, American Psycho is in development. We’re always exploring what we can do in television with something like the Saw franchise, so that’s a conversation.” Saw is having a resurgence this year with Spiral: From The Book Of Saw starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie premieres in May 2021, and a sequel is already greenlit.

When James Wan and Leigh Wannell created Saw, they had no idea it would balloon into a cinematic juggernaut. While it’s great their idea took off—Wan tells Total Film the success “bittersweet.” “It’s so flattering that they made sequels to our movie but at the same time it feels like the sequels have given the first film the wrong perception. Now people refer to ‘the Saw films’ in a derogatory way.”

The details surrounding the show’s development are scarce, but one can hope the new films and television show will go back to its roots and give fans something that focuses less on shock value and more on telling a good, coherent story.

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