In a new interview with Empire Magazine (as spotted by the good folks over at Bloody Disgusting), Saw X director Kevin Greutert sheds a little light on how the latest installment of this long-running franchise will differ from previous films in the series. In short: we're gonna be spending a bit more quality time with Tobin Bell's Jigsaw ... and less time with his latest batch of victims.
Calling Bell's Jigsaw (aka John Kramer) the "center of the story," Greutert promises the character will be onscreen "more than in any other Saw" before adding:
"[Saw X] is an emotional journey that you go on with John Kramer, and less a slaughterhouse that you experience from the point of view of the victims. Obviously there will be people that can’t handle it, but I think it has a good chance of appealing to people beyond gore freaks.”
That won't be the only change this time around. According to Greutert, the film will also be a bit more grounded than previous installments:
“This one has pulled back to a somewhat more realistic level. Not maybe Saw I-level simplicity, but close. The more that the audience can get the sense that a smart engineer – which he is – could figure out what to do with these parts and make it work, the better.”
All of this is very intriguing! Also intriguing: the fact that Saw X doesn't follow the events of the past few Saw movies. Instead, screenwriters Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg are jumping back in time, all the way back to the period between Saw and Saw II, to follow Jigsaw as he travels to Mexico in search of medical care. How he'll manage to roll out an entirely new game for a fresh batch of victims while traveling is anyone's guess, but we're eager to find out how he pulls it off.
As previously reported and in addition to Tobin Bell, Saw X's cast also includes returning cast member Shawnee Smith, as well as Renata Vaca, Paulette Hernandez, Joshua Okamoto, Octavio Hinojosa, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand and Michael Beach.
Nothing further to report on Saw X at this time, but stay tuned for more as further updates between now and its arrival in theaters on September 29th.
