The bloody adventures of Jigsaw may well be continuing but the screenwriting duo responsible for his most recent set of deadly games will not be back for more. Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger, the writers who wrote Saw X and several other recent entries in the long-running franchise, have confirmed that they will not be returning for the recently announced Saw XI. On the plus side, sounds like there are no hard feelings or bad blood between the writers and Lionsgate.
Shortly after the Saw XI news started making the rounds, Stolberg took to Twitter to address the situation. “Got a slew of DM‘s today about the Lionsgate Saw announcement. Pete and I are sitting this chapter out. Very excited to see this one as a fan of the franchise,” the writer explained. “I think people will be pleased with the team.” For the time being, it has not been confirmed who that new team will be as Lionsgate has shared very little by way of details, save for setting a 2024 release date. Stolberg, in a follow-up post, expressed his gratitude to fans.
“THANK YOU to everyone writing kind words about Saw X and your disappointment that I won't be writing Saw XI. To make you feel better, just remember what y'all said when Jigsaw came out! HAHAHAHA. Honestly, SO excited to sit back and watch this new one as a fan! #SawForever”
Stolberg and Goldfinger helped bring Saw back from the dead with 2017’s Jigsaw. It was the first film in the franchise in seven years following 2010’s Saw 3D which was, at the time, billed as the final chapter. The duo was brought back for 2021’s Spiral: From the Book of Saw and this year’s Saw X. It’s unclear why the writers aren’t returning for the new film but it doesn’t seem like a bitter situation.
Whatever the case, Lionsgate seems dead set on making Saw a more regular tradition once again - and it’s easy to see why. Saw X was a massive hit, taking in $107 million worldwide, in no small part thanks to the return of Tobin Bell as John Kramer. To date, the franchise has pulled in more than $1.1 billion across ten entries. As for whether or not the upcoming film will be another prequel with Bell returning or something else entirely? For now, we only have questions with very few answers.
Saw XI is set to hit theaters on September 27, 2024.
