As audiences filed back to movie theaters after the 2020-2021 pandemic shutdown, the well-known theater chain AMC theaters had felt the need to get people excited about going to the movies again. The business conceived of a dramatic promotional commercial that aimed to make us introspective and attempts to poetically capture the feeling of experiencing a movie at a theater. The promo features Nicole Kidman giving a passionate monologue as she sits in an empty theater with her drink and basking over clips of recent films. Perhaps the schmaltzy, serious nature helped the promo reach infamy as it has been the subject of various memes and parodies, including an SNL sketch.
The twisted minds at Lionsgate, behind the upcoming Saw X, have just released their own promo, which satirizes the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial. Only this time, it’s Jigsaw who takes the audience on the journey, on his tricycle no less. Jigsaw rides up to his seat and poetically illustrates the wonders of his elaborate traps and the emotional journey of the torture that his victims and, in turn, the audience goes through in experiencing every wincing graphic detail up on the big screen.
The marketing for Saw X is truly having a ball with their cheekiness. Recently, the film posted a video that was a riff on the classic Milton Bradley board game, Operation. A game that emphasizes the surgical precision of dissecting the human body. In the social media post, the tweet sports the caption, “be careful who you put under the knife. #SawX #SawTenber.” In the teaser video, there is a cheeky parody of the popular board game from Milton Bradley, Operation. Only now, it’s Saw style. The board game is rebranded “Saw-peration” and the tagline on the game is “I want to *play* a game.” The game is designed with Jigsaw’s image and plays an audio clip of chilling laughter.
The synopsis for Saw X reads, “In the Twisted Pictures next installment John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back, and it’s the untold chapter of Jigsaw’s final games. Set between the events of Saw I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. The infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged, and ingenious traps.”