One of the more odd news stories of 2019 was the announcement that comedian Chris Rock was teaming up with Lionsgate for a “Saw” reboot-quel. You wouldn’t normally think of the stand-up comedy genius when you think of torture porn films, but here we are. And we can only imagine that Rock is able to leverage his fame to help land some of the big names that have just been announced for the cast.
According to Lionsgate, actors Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols have all joined the cast of the upcoming “Saw” film. And we also get confirmation that Chris Rock himself will star in the film, as a police detective that is hot on the case of a murderer in a series of grizzly deaths. Jackson plays Rock’s father in the film (and really, shouldn’t he just adopt Rock in real life, as well?). Minghella will play the comedians police partner, while Nichols will portray their boss, Capt. Angie Garza.
“We think Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Rock along with Max Minghella and Marisol Nichols make this film completely special in the ‘Saw’ canon and we can’t wait to unleash this unexpected and sinister new story on fans of this franchise. This is next level of ‘Saw’ on full tilt,” said Joe Drake, Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
While no specific plot details are released, other than the very basics above, we do know that the idea for the film was hatched by Rock and written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. One of the most celebrated filmmakers from the “Saw” series, Darren Lynn Bousman, is back behind the camera. Will this be a true reboot of the film series or is this just another attempt by Lionsgate to revive the franchise after “Jigsaw” failed to do so last year.
We still have a little over a year before we get to see the fruits of the labor going into this new “Saw” iteration, as the film is set to be released just in time for Halloween on October 23, 2020. Production is now underway in Toronto.
