{"id":130430,"date":"2023-09-27T06:58:21","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T05:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=130430"},"modified":"2023-10-25T07:07:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T06:07:01","slug":"when-the-audience-stops-coming-well-stop-making-them-saw-x-producers-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-saw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/cinema\/when-the-audience-stops-coming-well-stop-making-them-saw-x-producers-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-saw\/","title":{"rendered":"“When the audience stops coming, we’ll stop making them.” Saw X producers on the past, present and future of Saw"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back for another set of twisted games in Saw X<\/strong><\/em>, which is set between the events of Saw I<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0II.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The movie finds a sick and desperate John travelling to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer \u2013 only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, John returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through a series of ingenious and terrifying traps.<\/p>\n

Producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules have been with Saw<\/strong><\/em> from the very beginning, ever since they watched the short movie by James Wan<\/a> and Leigh Whannell, which has spawned a franchise lasting 20 years. We sat down with them to find out how they feel about more Saw<\/strong><\/em>, remembering where it all began, whether there will be another and discovering a very important birthday was coming up [note: this interview took place on 21 September].<\/p>\n

So you’ve been with Saw<\/em> since the very beginning…<\/h3>\n

Oren Koules:<\/strong> Actually, 22 September was the first day of principal photography for Saw I<\/em><\/strong>. So it will be 20 years tomorrow!<\/p>\n

Wow. Happy birthday for tomorrow. Are you going to have a cake…?<\/h3>\n

Mark Burg:<\/strong> This is a new world we\u2019ll probably just go for a walk and have a smoothie!<\/p>\n

What’s it been like being on this Saw<\/em> journey for all those years?<\/h3>\n

Mark Burg: <\/strong>It’s been a giant, fun roller coaster! There are about six or seven people who have been with this franchise since day one. We’re all still really good friends. So it’s a way of spending a couple of months every year with good friends on location somewhere. Oren, myself, Dan Hefner, our producing partner, Jason Constantine from Lionsgate, Kevin Grider, who’s edited or directed every movie, and Charlie Clauser has been doing the music since Saw I<\/strong><\/em>. So it’s actually like one long, extended family.<\/p>\n

What stood out to you about the short film the first movie is based on?<\/h3>\n

Mark Burg: <\/strong>It was fucking amazing!<\/p>\n

Oren Koules:<\/strong> I literally ran to Marks’s office. Believe it or not, it was actually a VHS. Our third partner who’s unfortunately passed away, brought it into our office. I watched it and literally ran into Mark\u2019s office. He was talking and I’m like ‘hang up the phone, hang up the phone!’ And we watched it and we were like ‘holy cow’.<\/p>\n

I said ‘here’s the best news. There’s actually a script that comes with it’. So we all went home, read the script. We were like, please be good, please be good, please be good. And the script was exactly what it is.<\/p>\n

We did some rewrites. James did rewrites basically to the location, and that’s it. Mark and I decided to finance the films ourselves. We used money out of our accounts, and just hoped to get our money back and it worked!<\/p>\n

Watch the original short film below…<\/em><\/p>\n