"Saw XI Stalls: Lionsgate and Producer Clash"

I can’t even believe I’m saying this but... it’s game over for the Saw franchise, at least for now. It has been confirmed that the upcoming Saw XI has officially been stalled and, at this point, will not be released in the fall as originally scheduled.

However, this isn't a creative issue. “We haven’t heard anything since May,” Saw XI screenwriter Patrick Melton told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s stalled at a managerial level. It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There’s higher-level things at play.”

According to the publication, Melton and his writing partner Marcus Dunstan submitted a draft of the script in spring 2024, which is coming up on a year ago. Melton added: “The reason it’s held up is just, there’s inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can’t quite get on the same page.”

What's more disheartening is that the 11th installment was set to tackle a timely topic. Though plot details have not been disclosed for Saw XI, Melton compared the plot of the film to that of Saw VI, which was penned by Melton and Dunstan and directed by Gruetert. In it, lead John Kramer, aka Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), seeks vengeance on a group of health insurance executives.

“Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that,” Melton told THR.

“It taps into the same themes as Saw VI, where you’re a citizen, feeling angry and frustrated with something, feeling like you can’t do anything, and John Kramer’s going to do it.” It would be fascinating to see the Saw franchise revisit these themes and explore them differently, given the current state of the world—but sadly, it seems we may never get that chance.