Spiral: From the Book of Saw will have plenty of ties to the Saw mythology

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The Saw franchise was the king of horror throughout the 2000s and I was one of those who absolutely ate it up. The series wound up coming to a conclusion with Saw: The Final Chapter, but as any good horror fan knows, slapping The Final Chapter on anything is pretty much a guarantee that it won't be. Sure enough, John Kramer (Tobin Bell) would return seven years later for Jigsaw, and although the franchise would lay dormant once again, it'll be back with Spiral: From the Book of Saw.

The upcoming film stars Chris Rock and Max Minghella as a pair of detectives who take charge of a grisly investigation into a series of murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city's gruesome past. Unwitting trapped in a deepening mystery, the detectives find themselves at the center of the killer's morbid game. Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV, is back in the director's chair once again, and he recently spoke with Empire Magazine to tease that although the film will be something new, it will have plenty of ties to the mythology of the franchise.

Chris [Rock] came in with a thriller concept. He pitched this very elaborate, dense idea. We wanted it to feel much more like Seven. But it has so many ties to the mythos of Saw.

Bousman added that one way Spiral will be changing up the franchise is to tone down the gore, at least a little bit. "I was a younger person," Bousman said of his earlier Saw films. "Gore and violence was the gimmick, I think. Gore and violent is no longer a gimmick – it just serves the story. This is much more about character, tension and fear." Sounds as though Spiral might be more like the original film by James Wan, which wasn't nearly as gory as some people seem to remember it was. Empire also released a new image from the film, which you can check out below.

The official synopsis for Spiral: 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 trapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer's morbid game.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw is slated to hit theaters on May 21, 2021, but as COVID-19 continues to delay films, we might see that change.