The horror movie Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) will be released in 2021 and was written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger. Darren Lynn Bousman will direct the film. The Saw film series has now reached its ninth episode with this movie. The plot of the movie, which stars Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson, centers on the attempts of the police to stop a murderer who is imitating Jigsaw. James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the show's original creators, along with Rock and seasoned series veteran Kevin Greutert, serve as executive producers for the series.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.
When the COVID-19 epidemic delayed the release of Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), it was released theatrically in the United States on May 14, 2021, by Lionsgate Entertainment. Critics were split on whether or not the film was successful in reimagining the series, with some praising the new direction it had taken.
What happens in Spiral (2021)?
Off-duty detective Marv Bozwick pursues a burglar through a sewage drainage pipe during a Fourth of July parade. Bozwick wakes in an active subway tunnel, hanging by his tongue, after being attacked from behind by a person wearing a pig mask. He is offered an option through recorded message: cut out his tongue and survive, or wait until the next train comes, killing him. Bozwick gets murdered by a train after failing to escape the trap in time. The next day, Detective Zeke Banks is assigned a new partner, idealistic rookie William Schenk, by police Captain Angie Garza. Banks and Schenk examine Bozwick's death, and Banks notices a resemblance to the Jigsaw Killer's method of operation.
After failing to respond to Banks's request for assistance some years earlier, Fitch is kidnapped and put in a trap where he must chop his fingers off to prevent electrocution in an overflowing water basin; he also fails to escape and perish. Because of his past association with Fitch, several police assume that Banks is the person responsible. A parcel containing a pig puppet and a portion of Schenk's tattooed flesh subsequently arrives at the station. The police are directed to a butcher shop by a little vial hidden within the box, which Banks and his father, former chief Marcus Banks, used to frequent as a hobby store. Schenk's skinned body and a recording recorder are found when the squad arrives. Abducted by the murderer, Marcus sets out to find him at a warehouse where he is held captive. 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 from a conduit over her face. When Banks finds her dead, she has been killed by the boiling hot wax since she failed to do so.
Banks is taken captive while following a lead, and when he comes to in the warehouse, he is tied to a pipe and there is a hacksaw nearby. He gives some thought to cutting off his arm, but he is able to get away by using a bobby pin that is loose. He then finds his old colleague, Peter Dunleavy, who was sacked and sentenced to jail after Banks uncovered a murder he committed, shackled in place. Banks was the one who exposed the crime. In front of him is a large piece of machinery designed to break glass, and it has been adapted to swiftly throw shrapnel in his direction. A voice on a tape recorder tells Banks that he has the option of either releasing him or abandoning him to his fate. In spite of Banks' best efforts, he is unable to retrieve the key in time to rescue Dunleavy. Banks then moves to another chamber where he discovers Schenk, who it turns out pretended to be dead by using the skinned body of the thief who lured Bozwick into the tunnels. Schenk was the copycat the whole time, and it was shown that he had faked his own death. He says that his real surname is Emmerson and that he is the son of Charlie Emmerson, who was the victim of a murder committed by Dunleavy because Charlie had promised to testify against a corrupt law enforcement official. In addition to this, he discloses that Marcus, during the period that he served as chief, purposefully sheltered corrupt cops in order to rid the streets of crime more effectively in accordance with Article 8.
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.
Who led Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)?
Detective Zeke Banks was acted by Chris Rock.
Detective William Schenk/Emerson was played by Max Minghella. Young William is played by Leonidas Castrounis. Marcus Banks was played by Samuel L. Jackson. Captain Angie Garza was played by Marisol Nichols. Detective Marv Bozwick was played by Daniel Petronijevic.
Detective Fitch was acted by Richard Zeppieri.
Peter Dunleavy was played by Patrick McManus. Ali Johnson played the role of Officer Jeannie Lewis. She played Kara Bozwick in the movie.
The role of Sergeant Morgey Silva was played by Dylan Roberts. K. C. Collins played Drury. Edie Inksetter played the role of Detective Deborah Kraus in the show.
Contractor played Coroner Chada.
Detective Tim O'Brien was played by Thomas Mitchell. Benny Wrights was played by Chad Camilleri. Speez (Christopher Ramsay) Licari depicted Emmerson. Genelle Williams played Lisa Banks in the film. Lieutenant Pat Jones was played by Trevor Gretzky.
Tobin Bell, who portrayed John Kramer/Jigsaw in all prior Saw films, did not return in Spiral, making it the first film in the series without Bell or Jigsaw appearing beyond pictures. Bousman said the film's murderer is a Jigsaw copycat, not the original, and he won't replace Bell. Bell would return as Jigsaw if the plot explored Billy the Puppet's origins.
Chris Rock's participation in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Chris Rock contacted Lionsgate with his Spiral proposal as a chance to revitalize the Saw series as well as his own career.
Chris Rock says that Spiral (2021) started when he met Michael Burns, the vice chairman of Lionsgate, by chance at a friend's wedding in Brazil. He thought that doing something in the horror genre would be a new direction for his career, even though he planned to include some comedic elements in the film. Rock talked to LionsGate about extending the franchise, and the company was very interested in the idea. Joe Drake, the CEO of Lionsgate, said that Rock's idea was completely respectful of the material's history while reviving the brand with his wit, creative vision, and love for this classic horror franchise. By January 2018, there were rumors that Lionsgate had started talking about making a ninth Saw movie, but that the Spierig Brothers would not be back. In an interview with Screen Rant, the directors said that their movie set the stage for future sequels. By April 2018, Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger, who wrote Jigsaw, were working with Twisted Pictures to make a sequel.
After Jigsaw came out, Stolberg and Goldfinger were talking to series veterans Mark Burg and Oren Koules about making a new Saw movie about only John Kramer/Jigsaw and none of his other apprentices. Burg and Koules called Stolberg and Goldfinger to tell them about Rock's ideas for a new movie, and Rock called them soon after to talk about his idea. Before that, other writers had tried to get Lionsgate interested in their ideas for the next Saw movie, but none of them were successful. Stolberg and Goldfinger, on the other hand, had come up with eight different versions of the movie before Rock came along and combined his idea with theirs. Burg and Koules told the pair to make a pitch for Rock. Stolberg and Goldfinger did this, and both Lionsgate and Rock liked their pitch. This led them to write their first draft, which was approved a week after it was turned in. Rock helped Stolberg and Goldfinger write the story and rewrote parts of it when they needed to.
Rock's character was originally supposed to be linked to Danny Glover's David Tapp from the previous film. Stolberg and Goldfinger decided against going this route since it failed the smell test. Bousman said in May 2021 that talks had taken place regarding bringing Costas Mandylor back as Mark Hoffman in a future film. Bousman and the crew debated whether or not Tobin Bell should reprise his role as Jigsaw until the last day of production, but they thought that having Bell back would make the film seem like a continuation of the Saw series rather than a standalone picture as it was intended. Because Jigsaw was killed off in the third picture, Bousman believed that previous films had done Jigsaw a disservice by utilizing flashbacks to bring him into the tale, and he didn't want to make the same error in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) or disrespect Bell's legendary portrayal. Bousman contemplated including Bell in Spiral (2021) by having him perform a Johnny Cash song during the concluding scene, but decided against it because it was too gimmicky.
Tobin Bell didn't appear in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) for whatever reason.
This is the first Saw movie in which Tobin Bell does not reprise his role as Jigsaw.
Stolberg stated in an interview with Bloody Disgusting that Jigsaw was never included in any draft of the screenplay for Spiral: From the Book of Saw, despite discussions taking place even after the first test screening and throughout post-production. They felt that including Jigsaw would alter the foundation of the story they were trying to achieve, not intending to diminish the character but wanting to place the franchise in a new direction. Due to the timeline of the franchise, Stolberg and Goldfinger proposed at one point to have an after-credits sequence where John Kramer met a young Schenk after the murder of the latter's father and bonded with him, maybe giving him the puppet he later uses as the Spiral (2021) Ki.
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 (2021) 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: Behind the Scenes
On May 16, 2019, preproduction began. Former series director Darren Lynn Bousman directed, and Burg and Koules produced. Rock produced and wrote the narrative treatment.James Wan, Leigh Whannell, and Daniel Heffner, who made the original Saw, are now executive producers for Rock. Stolberg and Goldfinger were confirmed as screenwriters.
Rock said that he has been a fan of Saw since the original picture came out in 2004. Having the chance to take this to an even more intense and twisted new level intrigued him greatly.
As a result of Rock's insistence that Bousman direct a Broadway production in New York City, Bousman declined to helm another Saw film.
According to Burg and Koules, Rock's handling of Saw was analogous to what Eddie Murphy did for buddy cop flicks in 48 Hrs., giving the Saw series a whole new viewpoint. Similarly, Bousman stated that compared to previous installments, Spiral (2021) contained less violence and gore, expressing the belief that gore and violence were a gimmick for him when he first began working on the Saw films, but that both elements now serve the story, which focuses on character, tension, and fear.
Stolberg indicated that the ninth film will exist in the same canon as the previous eight and would not be a reboot or direct sequel to Jigsaw.
Spiral roles
Zeke Banks, a police officer, was played by Rock. Rock, Stolberg, and Goldfinger came up with the idea for the character during conversations they had before writing the screenplay. Rock wondered what he would do if he were the original Saw main character, Dr. Lawrence Gordon, and had to cut off his own foot. They thought it would be interesting if Rock played a cop who didn't get along with the other cops.
Samuel L. Jackson decided to portray Chief Marcus Banks because he wanted to do something new, like the climax sequence when he's hung up like a marionette. Marisol Nichols was hired as Captain Angie Garza; the character was initially intended for a male actress, but the producers handed it to Nichols, who, despite being a Saw fan, watched David Fincher's Seven to prepare. Patrick McManus initially auditioned for Detective Marv Bozwick but was cast as Peter Dunleavy. Dan Petronijevic played Bozwick.
Max Minghella took on the role of William Schenk / The Spiral (2021) Killer because he yearned to star in a film with simple story-telling like the buddy cop films of his youth, such as 48 Hrs., and when he read the script, he felt that it was both that and a Saw film.
How was the experience of shooting Spiral (2021)?
The main filming started on July 8, 2019, in Toronto, Ontario. The working title of the movie is The Organ Donor, and Jordan Oram is the cinematographer. It was said that Rock, Jackson, Minghella, and Nichols would be in the movie. The CEO of Lionsgate, Joe Drake, said that Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols would make this film unique in the Saw series, and they couldn't wait to show fans of this franchise this unexpected and scary new story. This was the next level when Saw was going full speed. On set, Rock made changes to the script and rewrote the scene where his character is introduced. Bousman says that a scene with a trap had to be cut from the movie because it was too scary.
Officially, filming ended on August 28th, 2019. In post-production, Dev Singh finished the film's editing.
It's not clear to me just how Spiral (2021) was promoted.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) was released to the media on January 22, 2020, along with the Canadian distributor Mongrel Media, under the working title The Organ Donor. A teaser picture and video for Spiral were unveiled on February 5, 2020, confirming its title.
The release of Spiral in cinemas and on streaming services
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) was initially intended to be released on October 23, 2020, and was distributed by Lionsgate Films in the US. It was pushed back to May 15, 2020, in July of this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film's release date has been pushed back to May 21, 2021, replacing John Wick: Chapter 4 on the schedule. As cinemas started to reopen, it was rescheduled for a week early on May 14, 2021.
Lionsgate announced on May 25, 2021 that Spiral would premiere on Starz on October 8, 2021. On June 1, 2021, Canada launched Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) on PVOD.
What grade did Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) receive?
Darren Lynn Bousman claims that the movie was granted an NC-17 classification by the Motion Picture Association eleven times before the director was eventually able to trim enough sequences to achieve a R certificate.
How much did Spiral make at the movie theaters?
Spiral: From the Book of Saw has grossed $40.6 million globally as of March 3, 2022, including $23.2 million in the United States and Canada and $17.3 million in other markets.
In the U.S. and Canada, Spiral: From the Book of Saw opened with Those Who Wish Me Dead, Profile, and Finding You and was anticipated to earn $10–15 million from 2,811 theaters. The picture generated $3.7 million on its first day, dropping forecasts to $9 million. It opened to $8.8 million, leading the box office (for the sixth time) but marked the franchise's lowest opening weekend. Positive responses were more common on the East Coast, where 56% of audiences were male and 75% under 35. The next weekend, it dropped 48% to $4.6 million.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)'s critics:
Film critics praised Spiral: From the Book of Saw for its attempts to change up the formula of the franchise, but ultimately said that it does not succeed in providing Saw with the significant boost it required to regain relevance.
On Rotten Tomatoes, 37% of 221 reviewers gave it a good grade, with an average score of 5.1/10. Spiral: From the Book of Saw's critical consensus was that it presents a fresh path for the Saw series, even if the gruesome aggregate is less than its components.
Based on 33 reviewers, Metacritic gave the film a score of 40 out of 100, indicating mixed or mediocre reviews.
CinemaScore rated the picture a B- on a scale of A+ to F, while PostTrak reported that 63 percent of audience members gave it a good rating, with 43 percent indicating they would certainly recommend it.
A film reviewer said the film had a few surprise twists, but it deals with the idea of police immorality in a bizarrely offtopic, almost garishly generic fashion.A separate film reviewer noted the script maintained the grizzled-cop-movie tone and creates several interesting characters, but the narrative was repetitive, the mystery was annoyingly obvious, and the inventive deaths were less imaginative than before. Spiral compromised entertainment value for respectability and in the process didn't quite accomplish either.
A number of film critics found Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) to be a legitimately frightening detective thriller despite its uneven pacing, but they also faulted the screenplay for failing to convey the potential tensions between the father-son relationship of the film's central characters.
Some film reviewers praised the performance and Spiral: From the Book of Saw's simple yet captivating idea, but they also remarked on the unknown killer's voice, which he claimed sounded like Kermit the Frog, and stated that the screams and gore aren't something that should be endured by the movie's genuine audience. They are the attraction, in fact.
A film reviewer awarded the film one rating out of five and criticized the climax, noting that he believed it was hurried and half-assed and clumsily written and worst of all, progressively uninteresting. Finally, he declared that the game was finished.
Another film critic, in his one-and-a-half star review, criticized the film's tone and Darren Lynn Bousman's direction, which he said disappointed him despite his praise for the cast, and called it "downright illegible" for its lack of tension, story, and plot progression.
However, another film reviewer appreciated the opening sequence and concluded that the film's concept is dishonest at best and fear mongering at worst. Not as brilliant as it pretends to be like Jigsaw with one of his easy puzzles.
Spiral is a sequel that wants to woo Saw enthusiasts and mainstream viewers equally, but Spiral: From the Book of Saw: From the Book of Saw is likely to offend them both, according to one film reviewer. It's a cheap rip-off of the show, failing to match even the most basic aesthetic and narrative standards. It's also a terrible movie in general, attempting to portray a socially important subject but failing miserably. Spiral is hardly a Saw picture, delivering only momentarily on the primal pleasure of mutilation, and on none of the series' other precepts, according to him. It's also the most artless, tactless form of what it really is: a rejected pilot episode for a routine cop show.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) inspired Decker Shado's ideas, which he shared with us. From the Book of Saw and the imagination of Chris Rock comes Spiral: From the Book of Saw, the next Saw film to be released in late 2021. After a whole Summer of Saw, you should know the routine by now: a murderer is on the run who does not directly kill his target, but rather tests them with creative and terrifying mechanical contraptions. Alternatively, this is the notion. Many of these traps leave a great deal to be desired... both in terms of tactics and purpose. His video provides a much better explanation.
Another film reviewer noted that it's not a waste of a notion, precisely. But it's hardly the reinvention that the franchise needs, either. Rock's presence gives some fresh blood to Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), but after a promising start, the picture merely becomes a fairly average Saw movie with some larger stars than usual—one whose jaundiced lighting and procedural narrative evoke David Fincher's Se7en more than anything. Whether the aim was to determine if a new approach on a long-running series could withstand being cut and diced by the sequel machine, consider it lost.
A film reviewer said Spiral (2021) bungles its primary riddle without elegance, flair, or philosophy. Even death traps are lame. He recognized the film's promise, noting that a better, wiser movie lies behind all the absurdity. Too many cuts and speed ups. The loud conversation is irritating. Spiral is a film about corrupt and deadly police having a reckoning, which might be provocative and current for a Hollywood picture. However, Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) appears to care nothing about any of this. It wants to spill blood, so it does.
The sequel to Spiral (2021) has yet to be announced.
In April 2021, Twisted Pictures stated that a Saw X sequel was in production. Bousman, on the other hand, said that the film's producers were astonished by the announcement, which was made months before the film's release. Because they created Spiral (2021), it doesn't imply that the Saw series is over. Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)'s arrival doesn't indicate that Saw IX won't be made. No, this isn't Saw's tenth installment. After Jigsaw, there may very well be a Saw IX. I believe they're waiting to see how Spiral (2021) does and how viewers react before deciding what to do next. According to Josh Stolberg, the script was completed in December of 2013.
Will Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) eventually be adapted into a series for television?
In an April 2021 interview with Deadline Hollywood, Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs said that Lionsgate TV is talking with Mark Burg and Oren Koules of Twisted Television about making a TV show based on Spiral: From the Book of Saw.