Saw 11 Needs One Thing To Succeed, According To Original Director James Wan

James Wan, one of modern horror's true masters, is returning to his roots. Wan directed 2004's "Saw," an unexpected hit that kicked off one of horror's biggest franchises. Now, he's returning to the world of John Kramer and his twisted games for "Saw 11," which is currently in the works at Blumhouse Productions. And while details remain scarce, Wan knows what the movie needs.

Speaking to Letterboxd, Wan discussed, broadly, the property's status quo now that it's in new hands. Last year, Lionsgate's version of "Saw 11" was canceled, with Blumhouse purchasing the rights to the brand. Wan was then tasked with reviving his baby at Blumhouse through his Atomic Monster banner, which has a partnership with the studio.

"I have not been involved in this franchise to this degree, to this depth, basically since the first movie," Wan explained. "On 'Saw III,' I was kind of there, helping them shape the story, but I'm probably the one person in that world that has been the most removed from the franchise in that regard, other than giving my blessing throughout multiple films."

Wan is a credited producer on every "Saw" sequel, but he hasn't been meaningfully involved with them beyond that. Continuing, he added that he feels the property needs to return to its psychological horror roots:

"I feel I have probably the freshest outlook. I feel I can come back to it with a new perspective whilst knowing that with this next movie I want to hark back to the spirit of the first movie. One of the things I really want to do with this next 'Saw' is make it scary again. I want to make a scary 'Saw' — not just gory, but psychologically scarring, like what [writer] Leigh [Whannell] and I did in the first movie."

"Leigh and I both want to recapture the spirit of that first film and revisit Jigsaw's philosophy, which is that he goes after people who don't appreciate their lives," James Wan added. "If you're a scumbag, but you appreciate your life, he doesn't see you as someone who's wasting your life, so I want to go back to what we touched on in the first movie with regard to that."

Leigh Whannell wrote "Saw" based on a real-life health scare he had. He and Wan made the first movie on a shoestring budget, but it was a high concept idea that used its limited resources carefully, trapping Cary Elwes' Dr. Gordon in a dirty bathroom with the character Adam (as played by Whannell). Yes, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) had his bloody games, but there was a massive psychological component to the horror at hand.

As the "Saw" franchise continued and its timeline got increasingly wonky, the series leaned much more into clever traps and gore. Dialing things back, be it with a full-on reboot or another sequel, would be a way to help make things feel fresh after 10 movies across 22 years. Wan also noted that he feels the need to walk that line between doing something new while honoring what came before:

"I want to honor what people have come to love about the franchise, whilst trying to do something fresh and new that we haven't seen before. This next movie would be the 11th installment, and there've been lots of films in this world. We need to do something different in order to reach out to a new generation that didn't grow up with it."

"Saw 11" doesn't currently have a release date, but stay tuned.