Blumhouse wants to play a game, buys Saw franchise

Returning the series to its creators, Blumhouse will be financing all future Jigsaw traps and warehouses.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  June 18, 2025 | 6:28pm
Photo Credit: Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla
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Blumhouse wants to play a game, buys Saw franchise
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Jigsaw’s moving into a new warehouse, or, more accurately, a Blumhouse. The horror studio finalized its purchase of the Saw franchise from Twisted Pictures today, per The Hollywood Reporter. As they have since 2004, Lionsgate will continue distributing what producer Michael Burg calls “magical” films about a dying cancer patient violently torturing strangers he determined to be ethically compromised. The series stalled out after the critical and commercial success of Saw X, which seemingly breathed new life into the long-running series before killing it dead. However, after announcing an eleventh entry, Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures had a private falling out and, following several release date changes, Saw IX disappeared from the release schedule.

In a statement, Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum said he was returning the franchise to series creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell, bringing them “back in the fold and to see the future of the franchise come to life with their guidance.” Wan directed the original film, which he co-wrote with Whannell, who starred in the movie as the guy who smokes a cigarette and says, “Give me that sweet cancer.” For his part, Wan said that Blumhouse’s purchase would allow him to make “a significant creative return to the Saw franchise for the first time since the early days.” He promised to embrace the “original spirit” of the series and push its “legacy forward in bold, unexpected ways.” As long as there are bear-trap helmets, marrow-sucking vacuums, and Tobin Bell “straight up chillin” in a backwards cap, do whatever. Just keep what works.

 
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