Iconic horror franchise finally ends as 11th movie is 'cancelled' (2025)

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The Saw franchise has come to an abrupt end after 21 years as the 11th movie was 'canceled' this week.

Saw XI was announced for a September 2024 release back in December 2023, before the release was delayed by a full year.

Now it has been revealed the film has 'stalled at a managerial level' with writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan saying they have been blanked by Lionsgate since turning in a draft in May 2024 in an interview with THR.

The most recent film in the Tobin Bell-led franchise - Saw X - was released in September 2023 and was a critical and commercial success.

Director Kevin Greutert was slated to return for Saw XI.

Melton, who has worked on the franchise since 2007's Saw IV said: '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.'

Saw XI addresses a 'timely topic' Melton confirmed, although plot details have been not revealed.

'It taps into the same themes of Saw VI, where you’re a citizen, you feel angry and frustrated with something, you feel like you can’t do anything, and John Kramer’s going to do it.”

Melton further claimed the film was 'held up' due to 'inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can’t quite get on the same page.'

A source added to Bloody Disgusting of Saw XI: 'It’s totally dead. It’s 100% over. Almost a year now.'

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Lionsgate for comment.

The franchise kicked off with 2004's Saw, which hit theaters October 27, 2004 and helped put director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell on the map.

The film also put stars Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith on the map, who would return as John Kramer a.k.a. Jigsaw and Amanda Young in several sequels.

The first film was produced on a budget of just $1.2 million but pulled in $103 million worldwide ($56M domestic, $47M foreign) and kicked off an iconic franchise.

Saw II followed just a year later, with Darren Lynn Bousman replacing James Wan at the helm and co-writing the script with Whannell.

That pulled in $147 million ($87M domestic, $60M foreign) from just a $4 million budget, which lead to a new film hitying theaters every late October from 2006 to 2010, with all but Saw VI pulling in over $100M worldwide.

After a seven-year break, the Saw franchise returned with Jigsaw in 2017, which only earned $38 million domestic but still earned $102 million worldwide.

After a four-year break the franchise returned with the stand-alone story Spiral: From the Book of Saw with Chris Rock, but it only pulled in $40 million worldwide, the worst tally from any Saw movie.

This year's Saw X brought the franchise back to its roots, with Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith returning in a film set between the first two Saw movies.

Saw X brought the franchise back at the box office as well, taking in $107 million worldwide ($53M domestic, $54M foreign).

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