'Saw 8' News: New Installment Retitled 'Jigsaw'
Lionsgate has recently retitled the eighth film installment to the "Saw" horror film franchise from its previous title "Saw: Legacy" to "Jigsaw."
The announcement about the title change of the upcoming movie came on Wednesday, June 21, through the official Twitter account of the horror film series.
The "Saw" film series focuses largely on the fictional character and antagonist John Kramer — also known by his serial killer name "Jigsaw Killer" or "Jigsaw" — who kidnaps and imprisons his victims and forces them to go through a series of life-threatening tests that break their spirit and their will to live.
All seven movies from the franchise that have been released went on to earn a combined worldwide box office revenue of more than $870 million against a total production budget of around $67 million.
The upcoming sequel comes after seven years since the previous installment, "Saw: The Final Chapter," was released. According to Bloody Disgusting, the cast of "Jigsaw" includes Laura Vandervoort, Hannah Anderson, Mandela Van Peebles, Brittany Allen, Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Josiah Black, Michael Bolsvert, Shaquan Lewis and James Gomez.
Actors Costas Mandylor and Cary Elwes will not be appearing in the upcoming movie to reprise their roles in earlier installments. They previously played characters who became the apprentices of Jigsaw.
Tobin Bell, who played Jigsaw in several movies of the franchise, is believed to be returning for the eighth film installment in some capacity.
"Jigsaw" is directed by Michael and Peter Spierig from the script written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg in coordination with James Wan and Leigh Whannell — the original creators of the "Saw" franchise. The film is produced by Mark Burg, Gregg Hoffman and Oren Koule, all of whom have served the same position in all seven previous movies of the horror film series.
"Jigsaw" is set to arrive in U.S. theaters on Oct. 27, and is scheduled for an international release sometime in early 2018.
