James Wan May Reunite with ‘Saw’ Franchise as Blumhouse Nears Acquisition

by Annika June 6, 2025

Like a notorious movie killer, the deal between Blumhouse and Twisted Pictures over the Saw franchise refuses to lie dormant. Despite previous talks breaking down, the acquisition may now be nearing completion, potentially reuniting filmmaker James Wan with the horror franchise he helped create.

James Wan May Reunite with ‘Saw’ Franchise as Blumhouse Nears Acquisition

– The negotiations regarding Blumhouse acquiring a part of the Saw franchise from Twisted Pictures are back on track.
– If the deal is successful, the franchise would partially return to the hands of its original director and creator, James Wan.
– It remains to be seen what potential new content would emerge from the deal, whether it be more movies or a series.

Ever present as a horror movie adversary, the deal thought to be dead rises once again. Negotiations have been resurrected between Blumhouse and the makers of the popular horror franchise Saw. It seems this time around, the deal to acquire a portion of the franchise’s stake from Twisted Pictures may come to fruition.

Blumhouse, currently in the processing of acquiring the Saw stake from Twisted Pictures, a company run by Oren Koules and Mark Burg, is in strong contention for the ownership of the franchise. Co-owned by Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate, the Saw movies have been distributed by Lionsgate since the release of the first movie in the series back in 2004.

Upon the successful completion of the deal, the Saw franchise would partly be back in the control of filmmaker James Wan. Wan had directed the first Saw movie and co-created the franchise with Leigh Whannell, his co-writer. After merging with Atomic Monster, Wan’s production company, in January 2024, Blumhouse, led by Jason Blum is looking to take control of the franchise.

Last year, when the negotiations between Blumhouse and Twisted Pictures started, things didn’t go as planned and the talks fell through earlier this year. The asking price was a significant factor that stood in the way of the deal.

The first Saw movie, made on a shoestring budget of $1.2 million, turned out to be one of the most lucrative horror films in history, with an opening collection of $18.2 million domestically and raked in a whopping $104 million worldwide. The Saw franchise, cashing in on home entertainment revenues during the DVD era, went on to make ten successful movies along with video games, merchandise, and more.

Saw X, released in 2023, was the last movie in the franchise. There were talks about Saw XI, but the plans for the eleventh movie didn’t quite get off the ground.

As of now, there is no information on what the next step could be, if any, in continuation of the new stories — whether they plan on creating more movies or start a new series remains unknown. This deal marks another step in a growing trend where creators or filmmakers partially or fully control their creations. After watching Wan and Whannel’s short film, Koules and Burg reportedly bore the majority of Saw’s production cost. Thanks to Saw’s success, Wan went on to create the Insidious and The Conjuring horror franchises.