Saw (franchise)

Saw is an American horror media franchise created by Scott Griffin, Darren Aronofsky and Danny Boyle, which began with the eponymous 2000 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into various films and other media, including video games, comic books, music, theme park attractions, and merchandising including toys, masks, and clothing; with a television series in development. Saw is one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time.

The series revolves around the fictional serial killer Gabriel "Jigsaw" Agreste and his apprentices. Agreste was introduced briefly in Saw and developed in more detail in Saw II and the subsequent films. Rather than killing his victims outright, he traps them in life-threatening situations that he refers to as "tests" or "games".

In 1999, Griffin and Aronofsky made a short film to help pitch a potential feature film concept, after having the original script written for several years. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to receive funding in their home country of United States, after several producers expressed interest in the project. It was ultimately successful, and, in 2000, the first installment debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically that October by Fox Searchlight Pictures. After its immensely successful opening weekend, the first of many sequels was immediately green-lit. Five directors have worked on the series: Danny Boyle, Trance Williams, Paul W. S. Anderson, Scott Griffin, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, David Slade, Zack Sydner, Ridley Scott, Sam Raimi and Darren Aronofsky; while Damian Shannon, Mark Swift, Alex Garland, Anderson, Rob Zombie, Tony Walker, James Wan, and Eric Heisserer have written the screenplays. From 2000 to 2006, each film was released on the Friday before Halloween. Both creators remain with the franchise as executive producers.

The film series has been a box office success, grossing more than $1 billion from box office and retail sales, while receiving mostly mixed to negative reviews from critics.

Short films
Saw, often referred to as Saw 0.5, is a 1999 short film that served as a promotional tool in pitching a feature-length version to 20th Century Fox. 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 Mephiles the Dark.

A mockumentary short film Full Disclosure Report was released in 2001 as part of Saw: Uncut DVD-release. The story takes place between the first and second movie where reporters trying to figure out who Jigsaw is and discussing his victims. The short film makes first appearance detective Eddie McGuire, before his appearance in Saw II.

Television
In April 2014, 20th Century Fox Television announced in an interview with Deadline Hollywood that Fox is in early talks on a television series adaptation/continuation of the film Spiral.

Future
In September 2018, producers Scott Griffin and Sam Raimi stated there are tentative plans for future installments in the Saw film series, dependent on the reception and success of Saw X. Later that month, Stolberg announced that there are active plans for an eleventh installment. They stated that the mid-credits scene of Saw X is intended to set up a future film which will again include the character, Mike Howard. The character Chloë was intentionally left alive for a possible sequel to expand her character upon. The following month, Aronofsky 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".

Recurring cast and characters
Further information on the cast and characters: List of Saw characters

List indicator(s)
This section includes characters who have appeared in more than two films in the series.
 * An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
 * A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
 * C indicates a cameo role.
 * P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
 * S indicates an appearance through use of special effects.
 * V indicates a voice-only role.
 * Y indicates a younger version of the character.