Spiral is a 2021 horror film written and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, Josh Stolberg, and Peter Goldfinger. The ninth entry in the Saw film franchise. Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson feature in this thriller about police attempts to arrest a copycat Jigsaw murderer. Executive producers include the series' original creators, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, as well as Rock and series veteran Kevin Greutert.When Chris Rock expressed a desire to go into the horror genre with 2017's Jigsaw, rumors about a second Saw film started circulating. In the end, the Spierig Brothers, who directed Jigsaw, opted not to return for another picture. Rock is now working on a screenplay by Stolberg and Goldfinger that was publicly unveiled in May of this year. July and August were the months when the remainder of the actors joined, with shooting taking place in Toronto.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), originally set for May 2020, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and released on May 14, 2021 by Lionsgate. The film garnered mixed reviews from reviewers, who applauded the franchise's new approach but weren't sure whether it properly reinvented it.
A homicide investigator, Fitch, was kidnapped and put in a trap where he had to tear his fingers off to prevent electrocution in a filling water basin; he also failed to escape, and died. Due of his previous association with Fitch, several police began to assume that Banks may be the culprit. On arriving at the station, Schenk's tattooed skin is found inside an animal puppet. This butcher shop, where Banks and his father, former police chief Marcus Banks, used to frequent, is now the target of a lead found in a little vial inside the box that was found by the police. The crew finds a tape recorder and a skinned body, which they identify as that of Schenk. Taking matters into his own hands, Marcus heads to a warehouse, where he is kidnapped. In the precinct's cold storage, Garza is abducted and forced to cut her spinal chord with a blade in order to prevent hot wax from dripping into her face. If she does not, she will die from her injuries as soon as Banks comes across her corpse and the wax has melted.
The last test Emmerson gives to Banks, who he believes may be an ally, shows Marcus restrained in the air and being slowly drained of blood. Calling 9-1-1 and saying he is a civilian being chased by gunmen, Emmerson's situation prompts a SWAT response. A handgun with one cartridge, he gives Banks a choice: either fire a target which would rescue Marcus but let Emmerson escape, or shoot Emmerson and let Marcus die. Saving his father, Banks shoots the target, allowing his bindings to be undone. He then engages Emmerson in combat. Several minutes later, the SWAT squad comes and mistakenly causes Marcus' handcuffs to tug him upward once again. Movement shows a pistol strapped to Marcus' arm, prompting the SWAT squad to mistake him for the shooter and execute him. As Emmerson flees, Banks shouts in sorrow.
Tobin Bell, who portrayed John Kramer / Jigsaw in all prior Saw films, did not appear in Spiral: From the Book of Saw, making it the first film in the genre to include neither Bell nor the Jigsaw persona onscreen other than in images. Bousman said that the murderer in the film is a Jigsaw clone, not the real Jigsaw, and that he has no plans to replace Bell in the famous role. Bell has indicated interest in reprising his role as Jigsaw if the plot went further into Billy the Puppet's origins.
According to Chris Rock, the inspiration for Spiral: From the Book of Saw stemmed from a chance meeting with Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns at a friend's wedding in Brazil, and he felt doing something in the horror genre would be a new avenue to take in his career, though he planned to include some comedic elements in the film. Rock contacted Lionsgate with his plans to expand the series, and the studio became quite intrigued in the notion. According to Lionsgate CEO Joe Drake, Rock's approach was totally respectful of the material's past while reinvigorating the brand with his humour, creative vision, and enthusiasm for this great horror property. By January 2018, industry reports suggested that Lionsgate was planning a ninth Saw film, for which the Spierig Brothers would not return. In an interview with Screen Rant, the filmmakers revealed that their picture established the groundwork for potential sequels. Twisted Pictures was working on a sequel with Jigsaw authors Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger by April 2018.
Stolberg and Goldfinger had been pitching a new Saw film centered on John Kramer / Jigsaw rather than any of his established apprentices to series veterans Mark Burg and Oren Koules following the release of Jigsaw, but Burg and Koules informed the pair of Rock's ideas for a new film, with Rock contacting them shortly thereafter to discuss his concept. Prior to then, various writers had presented their ideas for the next Saw film to Lionsgate, but none had been accepted. Stolberg and Goldfinger, on the other hand, had created eight distinct versions of the picture before Rock came and blended his concept with theirs. The pair was directed by Burg and Koules to create a proposal for Rock. Stolberg and Goldfinger did so, and their proposal was accepted by both Lionsgate and Rock, prompting them to compose their first draft, which was given the go-ahead a week after it was submitted. Rock assisted Stolberg and Goldfinger with the reworking of the tale throughout the writing process.
Rock's role was originally based on Danny Glover's David Tapp from the original film. Because it didn't smell right, Stolberg and Goldfinger decided not to follow this route. It was reported by Bousman in May of 2021 that there had been negotiations regarding the possibility of Costas Mandylor returning to the role of Mark Hoffman in a future film. They debated bringing back Tobin Bell as Jigsaw until the very last day of production because they feared that by doing so, the film would seem like the ninth part in the Saw series rather than a standalone picture. Spiral: From the Book of Saw's director Doug Bousman thought that previous films had done Jigsaw a disservice by utilizing flashbacks to bring him into the tale, and he did not want to make the same mistake again or insult Kristen Bell's legendary portrayal. Bell was considered for inclusion in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), but Bousman discarded the concept because he thought it was too gimmicky to incorporate.
Despite discussions taking place after the first test screening and throughout post-production, Stolberg stated in an interview with Bloody Disgusting that Jigsaw was never included in any drafts for the screenplay of Spiral: From the Book of Saw because they felt that including Jigsaw would change the foundation of the story they were trying to achieve, not to diminish the character but to move the franchise in a new direction. Stolberg also believed that, given the franchise's timeline, any possible connection John Kramer might have had with William Schenk / The Spiral (2021) Killer should have occurred when the latter was still a child, given his portrayer's age; Stolberg and Goldfinger proposed at one point to have an after-credits sequence in which Kramer met a young Schenk after the murder of the latter's father and bonded with him, possibly giving him the puppet he later uses as the S
As the film's murderer is a Jigsaw copycat who differs from the original, Billy the Puppet was substituted with Mr. Snuggles so the new killer cannot be compared. Reusing Bell's voice for Mr. Snuggles could have created questions about the relationship between both killers. An early draft featured Jigsaw's voice only to be revealed a digitally altered version of his voice, and the story originally had all the speeches as past recordings of Jigsaw's voice using words in a different order to show that the Spiral: From the Book of Saw Killer had digitally rearranged the words. The producers struggled to replace Bell's voice as the murderer. Before deciding on the computer-simulated voice, Bousman tried women, children, and men's voices. The final voice was chosen two days before the sound mix.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw Behind the Scenes
James Wan and Leigh Whannell, as well as Daniel Heffner, the original Saw creators, have joined Rock as executive producers. Scriptwriters Stolberg and Goldfinger have been confirmed.
Rock has been a fan of Saw since 2004. He was eager to make this intense and twisted.
Rock suggested Bousman direct a Broadway production when Bousman declined to direct Saw IV.
According to Burg and Koules, Rock's approach to Saw was analogous to what Eddie Murphy had done for buddy cop films in 48 Hrs., which provided the Saw series with a whole new point of view. In a (original post) similar vein, Bousman mentioned that there was less bloodshed and gore in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) in comparison to previous installments. He expressed the conviction that the bloodshed and violence were the gimmick for him when he first started working on the Saw films, but that both elements now serve the story, which focuses more on character, tension, and fear.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)'s casting options
On August 28, filming ended. Dev Singh edited after production.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw's marketing:
Spiral in theaters and streaming
What was the rating for Spiral?
When the Motion Picture Association gave the picture an NC-17 classification 11 times, director Darren Lynn Bousman decided to remove enough sequences to earn a R rating.
How much did Spiral (2021) make at the theaters?
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) has earned $23.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $17.3 million in other regions as of March 3, 2022, for a global total of $40.6 million.
What did film reviewers think about Spiral?
On the website that aggregates reviews, Rotten Tomatoes, there are 221 reviews total, and 37 percent of them are favorable, giving the movie an average rating of 5.1 out of 10. The reviews on this website came to the conclusion that Spiral: From the Book of Saw offers an intriguing new path for the Saw series to go, even if the overall gore effect is rather less than the sum of its parts.
According to one reviewer, "the film takes an unexpected twist or two," but given that it's a thriller about police immorality, "the film confronts that theme in an oddly untopical, almost garishly generic way."
According to a separate film reviewer, the writing captures the grizzled-cop-movie tone and creates some memorable characters, but the narrative is repetitive, the mystery is hopelessly foreseeable, and the inventive deaths are less imaginative than before. Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) chose respectability above entertainment value, and in the process failed to attain either.
The screenplay of Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) was criticized by a number of film critics for failing to adequately convey the potential conflicts that could arise between the father-and-son relationship that is at the center of the story. However, many film critics agreed that Spiral: From the Book of Saw was a legitimately terrifying detective thriller, despite having an uneven pace.
Another film reviewer in his one star and a half review, offered the picture critical notes for its tone and Darren Lynn Bousman's directing, which he stated disappointed him owing to his love for the performers, calling it outright unreadable for its lack of tension, plotline, and movement in the storyline.
According to one reviewer, Spiral: From the Book of Saw: From the Book of Saw is likely to offend both Saw devotees and mainstream viewers. It's a poor rip-off of the show, failing to fulfill even the most basic aesthetic and narrative requirements. It's also a lousy movie in general, since it attempts to portray a socially important subject but falls short. Spiral is barely a Saw picture, delivering only momentarily on the primal pleasure of mutilation, and on none of the series' other precepts, he said. It's also the most artless, tactless form of what it really is: a discarded pilot episode for a repetitive cop drama.
A film reviewer remarked it's not a waste of a notion. No, the franchise doesn't require a reboot. Rock's presence gives fresh blood to Spiral, but after a promising start, the picture merely becomes an alright Saw movie with larger stars than usual. Its jaundiced lighting and procedural narrative evoke David Fincher's Se7en more than anything. Whether the game was to determine if a new approach on a long-running series could withstand sequels, it was lost.
A reviewer said Spiral: From the Book of Saw stumbles through its fundamental riddle without elegance, style, or philosophy. Even deathtraps are boring. He recognized the film's promise, suggesting that a better, wiser movie is hiding behind all the foolishness. Too many cuts and speed-ups. Loud, bad conversation is irritating. Spiral is about corrupt and violent police having a reckoning, which might be edgy and topical for a Hollywood picture. However, the film appears to care nothing about any of this. It seeks and sheds much blood.
In April 2021, it was confirmed that Twisted Pictures was making a sequel movie called "Saw X." But Bousman said that the announcement was made too soon, which surprised him and the film's producers. He said that just because they made Spiral: From the Book of Saw, it doesn't mean that the Saw series is over. Even though Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) is out, that doesn't mean that Saw IX won't happen. This is not the ninth movie in the series of Saw movies. There could very well be a Saw IX after Jigsaw. I think they are waiting to see how well Spiral (2021) does and how people react to it before deciding what to do next. Josh Stolberg said that the script was finished that same year in December.
Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs told Deadline Hollywood in April 2021 that the company is in early negotiations to produce a Spiral (2021) TV series with Mark Burg and Oren Koules' Twisted Television.