"Saw XI Delayed: Lionsgate and Producer Clashes"

It's a tough pill to swallow for fans of the Saw franchise, but it looks like the game is over for now. The much-anticipated Saw XI has hit a snag and won't be hitting theaters this fall as initially planned. This delay isn't due to any creative hurdles; rather, it's caught up in a managerial quagmire.

According to Patrick Melton, the screenwriter for Saw XI, there's been radio silence since May. "It's stalled at a managerial level," Melton shared with The Hollywood Reporter. "It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There's higher-level things at play." Melton and his writing partner Marcus Dunstan had submitted a draft of the script back in spring 2024, but the project has been stuck in limbo ever since. "The reason it's held up is just, there's inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can't quite get on the same page," Melton explained.

Frequent franchise director Kevin Gruetert was on board back in December 2023, when the film was slated for a September 2024 release. However, fans were devastated when the release was pushed back a full year to September 2025. Many hoped this delay was to refine the story, especially after the box office triumph of Saw X. The 10th installment revitalized the franchise, pulling in over $120 million worldwide during its run, which naturally spurred excitement for Saw XI.

What's particularly frustrating is that Saw XI was poised to tackle a highly relevant topic. Although specifics of the plot remain under wraps, Melton likened the film's themes to those of Saw VI, which he and Dunstan wrote and Gruetert directed. In Saw VI, John Kramer, aka Jigsaw (played by Tobin Bell), targets health insurance executives for revenge.

"Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that," Melton told THR. "It taps into the same themes of Saw VI, where you're a citizen, you feel angry and frustrated with something, you feel like you can't do anything, and John Kramer's going to do it." It would be fascinating to see the Saw franchise explore these themes again, especially given current global contexts—but it seems we might be left in the dark indefinitely.