Lionsgate has announced a new release date for the Saw franchise spin-off Spiral: From the Book of Saw, but this isn't the sort of release date shift we've gotten used to seeing during the pandemic. Rather than being delayed, this time Spiral is moving forward and will be released on May 14th instead of the previously announced May 21.
This is the fourth release date Spiral has been given. Originally set to reach theatres on October 23, 2020, the film was moved up to May 15, 2020, then pushed back to May 21, 2021 when the pandemic hit.
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed Saw II, III, and IV, Spiral was written by Jigsaw screenwriters Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg and is based on an idea from star / executive producer Chris Rock. The synopsis:
A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in SPIRAL, the terrifying new chapter from the book of SAW. Working in the shadow of an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel "Zeke" Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner William Schenk (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
In addition to Samuel L. Jackson and Max Minghella, Rock is joined in the cast by Nazneen Contractor as a coroner who works closely with Zeke, and Marisol Nichols as his boss, Captain Angie Garza.
Mark Burg and Oren Koules produced Spiral, while Daniel Heffner earned an executive producer credit alongside Rock and Saw creators Leigh Whannell and James Wan. Whannell has said that he and Wan didn't have any involvement with the production, they only have credits because they started the franchise.
Spiral is rated R for "sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, pervasive language, some sexual references, and brief drug use."