Saw X Was Originally Going To Be Saw 9
Though it hasn't quite reached the dizzying naming heights of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, "Saw" has still managed to get creative with its titles in recent years. After going with a conventional roman numeral numbering system for its first six installments, the series got a little silly with "Saw 3D," technically the franchise's seventh installment. Next up was 2017's "Jigsaw," followed by the polarizing spin-off film "Spiral: From The Book of Saw." Though that Chris Rock-led film garnered mixed reviews, it also freed up the franchise to start trying altogether new things — which it did this year with its tenth installment, a "Saw II" prequel with a strong visual style and a much-praised John Kramer reappearance.
After three fun movie titles, though, the latest installment was simply titled "Saw X." It's a boring title, but apparently it wasn't always the plan. A Blu-Ray special feature for the latest installment features an interview with screenwriter Josh Stolberg, who explained that the movie was originally titled "Saw IX: John Kramer." According to Stolberg, the movie was in the works before "Spiral," but Chris Rock actually approached the team in hopes of making a "Saw" movie.
"While working on the new script, [we] got a call from [producers Oren Koules and Mark Burg] saying, 'Chris Rock wants to make a 'Saw' movie ... stay by your phones ... he's calling you in a minute," Stolberg told Bloody Disgusting in 2021. Initially the writer thought they were joking, but Rock really was a "Saw" fan with "some really big ideas" for a new installment.
A Saw switcheroo
According to Stolberg, the script for "Saw IX: John Kramer" was then repurposed into "Saw X," which, given the prequel nature of the project, was likely a pretty seamless switch. The writer (who co-wrote "Saw X" with Peter Goldfinger) discussed all of this in the "Saw X" Blu-Ray, but it's not the first time he's mentioned it. He hinted via Twitter back in 2021 that the script "is gonna make John Kramer fans very happy!!!" but at that point, it was unclear whether "Saw X" was ever going to actually happen. Lucky for fans of Bell's torture-lesson-obsessed killer, the movie did come to be, albeit with a name change. In July, Stolberg revealed via Twitter that the earliest notes he had on his computer from "Saw X" dated back to January 2018, and the project was then titled "Saw: John Kramer." While one of the pitch documents includes the "9" differentiation, the rest don't, so the numbering system may have been left behind entirely at one point.
In the same conversation, Stolberg replied to a Twitter user explaining that at one point, the team "all thought that this film was going to be Saw 9." Of course, "Spiral" changed everything, but Stolberg noted that he "LOVED making that film ... and it gave this film a chance to find itself." The "Saw" franchise seems like it could keep going on forever, so given the recent installments' unique and pattern-defying titles, it's possible that "Saw XI" (if it happens) will have a completely different name. Personally, my vote is for "2 Jigsaw 2 Furious."
"Saw X" is now on DVD and Blu-Ray.