Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger wrote and directed the 2021 horror thriller Spiral: From the Book of Saw, which stars Darren Lynn Bousman. One hundred and ninety-nineth film in Saw series. The film stars Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson and depicts police attempts to catch a Jigsaw copycat murderer. Exec producers include James Wan and Leigh Whannell, as well as Rock and the show's longtime cast member Kevin GreutertAfter the release of Jigsaw in 2017, Chris Rock expressed interest in expanding his presence in the horror genre, which led to the beginning of discussions on the production of a new Saw film. The Spierig Brothers, who directed "Jigsaw," considered making another movie but ultimately chose not to do so. Rock is now working on the screenplay, which was written by Stolberg and Goldfinger. The project was publicly revealed in May of 2019. The other members of the cast were brought on board in the month of July, and the last days of production were spent in Toronto.
Spiral (2021) was originally supposed to be released in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Lionsgate released it in theaters on May 14, 2021. Critics gave the picture mixed reviews, praising the franchise's new direction but disagreeing on whether it had truly succeeded in modernizing it.
What happens in Spiral: From the Book of Saw?
Off-duty Detective Marv Bozwick gives pursuit to a burglar into a sewage drainage pipe on the Fourth of July as the parade is going on. After being ambushed from behind by an individual wearing a pig mask, Bozwick awakens to find himself suspended by his tongue in an active subway tunnel. A recorded message informs him that he must either rip out his tongue in order to survive or wait until the next train arrives, which will result in his death. Bozwick is killed when he is unable to make it out of the trap in time and is struck by the train. The next day, Captain Angie Garza of the police department gives Detective Zeke Banks a new partner, William Schenk, an enthusiastic rookie. Banks and Schenk examine the death of Bozwick, and throughout their investigation, Banks comes to the conclusion that the manner in which Bozwick died is quite similar to the method of operation used by the now-deceased Jigsaw Killer.
Meanwhile, a murder investigator called Fitch is kidnapped and put in a trap where he must pull his fingers off to prevent electrocution in a filling water basin; he too fails to escape and dies. Fitch had rejected a backup call from Banks some years earlier, almost killing him. Due of his relationship with Fitch, several police accuse Banks of being the perpetrator. The station then receives a parcel containing a pig puppet and a bit of Schenk's tattooed flesh. The police are directed to a butcher shop by a little vial within the box, which was once a hobby store where Banks and his father, retired chief Marcus Banks, would frequent. The squad finds a recording recorder and a skinned body identified as Schenk when they arrive. Marcus decides to seek out the murderer himself and visits a warehouse, where he is kidnapped. Garza is abducted and put in a trap in the cold storage of the precinct, where she must slice her spinal chord with a blade to prevent hot wax from running through a conduit over her face. She fails to do so, and when Banks finds her corpse, she dies from her injuries caused by the boiling hot wax.
Banks is caught and wakes up in a warehouse chained to a pipe with a hacksaw nearby. He contemplates chopping off his arm but escapes with a bobby pin. Peter Dunleavy, his former partner who was sacked and jailed after Banks disclosed a murder he committed, is chained up. In front of him is a gigantic glass-crushing machine that hurls shrapnel. A recording recorder says Banks may liberate him or let him die. Banks can't rescue Dunleavy since he lacks the key. Schenk staged his own death using the skinned body of the thief who lured Bozwick into the tunnels. He was the copycat all along. He says that his last name is Emmerson, the son of Charlie Emmerson, who Dunleavy shot and executed for testifying against a crooked officer. He also states that Marcus, as chief, shielded dishonest cops to clean the streets faster under Article 8.
Emmerson, believing Banks may be an ally, puts him to the ultimate test by suspending Marcus in the air and slowly draining his blood supply. Emmerson calls 9-1-1 and says he is a civilian being followed by a gunman, prompting a SWAT squad to be sent to his area. He delivers Banks a handgun and a single cartridge, instructing him to either fire a target that would save Marcus but enable Emmerson to flee, or kill Emmerson and let Marcus bleed to death. On rescue his father, Banks fires at the target, loosening his father's shackles and lowers him to the ground, before fighting Emmerson. Marcus' shackles are yanked upward again once the SWAT squad arrives and accidentally strikes a tripwire. The SWAT squad mistook Marcus for the gunman and killed him as a result of the movement. As Emmerson flees, Banks shouts despairingly.
Who played who in Spiral?
Chris Rock was cast in the role of Detective Zeke Banks. 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.
Daniel Petronijevic portrays Marv Bozwick, a detective. Detective Fitch was played by Richard Zeppieri.
Peter Dunleavy was played by Patrick McManus.
Johnson played Officer Jeannie Lewis.
Kara Bozwick is played by Zoie Palmer.
Sergeant Morgey Silva was played by Dylan Roberts in the film. Collins played the role of Detective Drury.
Edie Inksetter played Deborah Kraus, a detective. Coroner Chada is played by Nazneen Contractor. Thomas Mitchell portrays Tim O'Brien, a detective.
The character of Benny Wrights was played by Chad Camilleri.
Christopher Ramsay was cast in the role of Speez.
As Charlie Emmerson, Frank Licari played the role.
Lisa Banks was played by Genelle Williams. Gretzky played Pat Jones.
Tobin Bell, who portrayed John Kramer / Jigsaw in all prior Saw films, did not appear in Spiral: From the Book of Saw, making it the first film in the genre to include neither Bell nor the Jigsaw persona onscreen other than in images. Bousman said that the murderer in the film is a Jigsaw clone, not the real Jigsaw, and that he has no plans to replace Bell in the famous role. Bell has indicated interest in reprising his role as Jigsaw if the plot went further into Billy the Puppet's origins.
Chris Rock's participation in Spiral: From the Book of Saw
Seeing an opportunity to revitalize both the Saw film series and his own career, Chris Rock contacted Lionsgate with the idea for Spiral (2021).
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Chris Rock reveals that he met Michael Burns, the vice chairman of Lionsgate, during a friend's wedding in Brazil, and that he decided to make a horror picture, even though he wanted to incorporate some humorous aspects. With the help of Lionsgate, Rock came up with the notion of expanding the series. This is a legendary horror series that has been revived by humor, creative vision, and passion from Rock, says Lionsgate's CEO Joe Drake. Rock's approach was totally respectful of the tradition of the material while reinvigorating the brand. Lionsgate was said to be in talks for a ninth Saw picture in January 2018, however the Spierig Brothers would not be involved. In an interview with Screen Rant, the filmmakers stated that their picture lays the groundwork for future sequels to the franchise. Twisted Pictures and Jigsaw authors Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger began work on a sequel in April of last year.
Following the release of Jigsaw, Stolberg and Goldfinger were pitching a new Saw film to series veterans Mark Burg and Oren Koules, focusing solely on John Kramer / Jigsaw rather than any of his established apprentices, but Burg and Koules called the duo to inform them about Rock's ideas for a new film, and Rock contacted them shortly after to discuss his concept. Other writers had tried and failed to sell their ideas for the next Saw picture to Lionsgate, while Stolberg and Goldfinger had come up with eight distinct versions of the film until Rock came and blended his concept with the duo's. Burg and Koules gave the pair the task of creating a proposal for Rock. Stolberg and Goldfinger did just that, and their proposal was accepted by both Lionsgate and Rock, prompting them to compose their first draft, which was greenlit only a week after it was submitted. During the writing process, Rock assisted Stolberg and Goldfinger, reworking the tale as needed.
Early scripts had Rock's character tied to Danny Glover's David Tapp. Stolberg and Goldfinger decided against this since it smelled fishy. Bousman said in May 2021 that he's discussed recasting Costas Mandylor as Mark Hoffman. Tobin Bell was suggested as Jigsaw until the final day of production, but Bousman and the team decided it would make the film seem like the ninth part of the Saw series rather than a standalone picture. Bousman thought that earlier films did a disservice by utilizing flashbacks to introduce Jigsaw, and he didn't want to make the error in Spiral or disrespect Bell's legendary performance. Bousman contemplated having Bell perform a Johnny Cash song during Spiral's concluding scene, but found it too gimmicky.
Why did Tobin Bell not appear in Spiral (2021)?
Tobin Bell did not reprise his normal role as Jigsaw in Spiral: From the Book of Saw, making it the first Saw film to do so.
Despite discussions taking place after the first test screening and throughout post-production, Stolberg stated in an interview with Bloody Disgusting that Jigsaw was never included in any draft for the screenplay of Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) because they felt that including Jigsaw would change the foundation of the story they were attempting to achieve, not to diminish the character but to take the franchise in a new direction. Stolberg also believed that, given the franchise's timeline, any possible connection John Kramer could have had with William Schenk / The Spiral: From the Book of Saw Killer should have occurred when the latter was still a child; Stolberg and Goldfinger proposed at one point to have an after-credits sequence in which Kramer met a young Schenk after the murder of the latter's father and bonded with him, possibly giving him the puppet he later uses as the Spiral Killer.
Because the killer in the film is a Jigsaw copycat who differs from the original, it was decided to replace Billy the Puppet with a new puppet in the form of Mr. Snuggles, as Bousman believed that if the original Jigsaw was replaced, the original puppet should be replaced as well, so the new killer could not be compared. The production feared that using Bell's voice for Mr. Snuggles would raise questions about the relationship between the two killers; an early draft actually featured Jigsaw's voice only to be revealed as 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: From the Book of Saw Killer had digitally rearranged the words to show that the Spiral (2021) Killer had digitally rearranged the The filmmakers had a difficult time replacing Bell's voice as the murderer. Bousman auditioned a variety of women, children, and men's voices before deciding on the computer produced voice. Only two days before the sound mix was finished, the final voice for the movie was chosen.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021): Behind the Scenes
The film started pre-production on May 16, 2019. Darren Lynn Bousman, who previously directed the series, will direct the feature, with Burg and Koules serving as producers. In addition to developing the plot concept, Rock served as an executive producer on the film.
James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the original Saw creators, have joined Rock as executive producers, along with Daniel Heffner. The scriptwriters have been identified as Stolberg and Goldfinger.
Rock revealed that he has been a fan of Saw since the first film in 2004 while making the news. He was ecstatic at the prospect of taking it to a whole new level of intensity and twistedness.
After refusing to make another Saw film when Saw IV, Bousman turned down the opportunity to helm a Broadway production in New York City after Rock insisted on directing the picture.
According to Burg and Koules, the way in which Rock handled Saw was analogous to what Eddie Murphy did for buddy cop films in the film 48 Hrs., which provided the Saw series with a whole new point of view. In a similar vein, Bousman mentioned that there was less bloodshed and gore in Spiral: From the Book of Saw in comparison to previous installments. He expressed the conviction that the bloodshed and violence were the gimmick for him when he first started working on the Saw films, but that both elements now serve the story, which places a greater emphasis on character, tension, and fear.
Stolberg indicated that the ninth film will exist in the same canon as the previous eight and won't be a reboot or straight sequel to Jigsaw.
Options for roles in the Spiral: From the Book of Saw production
Rock has a starring role in the show as Detective Zeke Banks. Rock, Stolberg, and Goldfinger had conversations prior to writing the screenplay that led to the creation of the character. During these conversations, Rock was thinking about what he would do if he were the original Saw protagonist, Dr. Lawrence Gordon, and was forced to cut off his own foot. Eventually, the three of them came to the conclusion that it would be more interesting if Rock played a cop who was shunned by his fellow officers.
Samuel L. Jackson decided to portray Chief Marcus Banks because he wanted to execute a new sequence, as when his character is 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, saw David Fincher's Seven to prepare. Patrick McManus initially auditioned for Detective Marv Bozwick but was cast as Peter Dunleavy. Dan Petronijevic was selected as Bozwick.
Max Minghella is a fan of both horror movies and buddy-cop movies. He took on the role of William Schenk / The Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) Killer because he yearned of starring in a movie with simple story-telling like the buddy cops of his youth such as 48 Hrs., and when he read the script, he felt that it was that along with a Saw film. Max Minghella is a fan of both buddy-cop movies and horror movies.
How was the experience of shooting Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)?
Principal shooting started on July 8, 2019, in Toronto, Ontario, with Jordan Oram as cinematographer. Rock, Jackson, Minghella, and Nichols were cast. Lionsgate's CEO Joe Drake said Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols will make this picture distinctive in the Saw canon and they couldn't wait to unleash this scary new narrative on viewers. Saw at full blast. Rock rewrote his character's entrance sequence on set. According to Bousman, a trap scene was too gruesome for the film.
Filming ended on August 28. Dev Singh edited post-production.
What was the marketing strategy for Spiral: From the Book of Saw?
The working title for the film was The Organ Donor until the name Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) and the Canadian distributor, Mongrel Media, were leaked to the press on January 22, 2020. On February 5, 2020, the first teaser poster and trailer revealed Spiral (2021) as the film's title.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw's theatrical and streaming releases
Spiral (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 confirmed on May 25, 2021 that Spiral (2021) would premiere exclusively on Starz in the United States on October 8, 2021. Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) was available on PVOD in Canada on June 1, 2021.
Spiral (2021)'s rating?
According to Darren Lynn Bousman, the picture was granted an NC-17 classification by the Motion Picture Association 11 times before ultimately receiving a R rating after editing enough sequences.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw made how much money at the box office?
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) grossed $23.2 million in the U.S. and Canada and $17.3 million in other regions as of March 3, 2022.
At 2,811 theaters, Spiral was expected to make $10–15 million in its first weekend, with competition from Those Who Wish Me Dead, Profile, and Finding You (all of which were also released in North America). At $3.7 million on its opening day, the picture underperformed expectations, falling short of its $9 million budget (including $750,000 from Thursday night previews). Although it topped the box office for the sixth time in the series, its opening weekend was the lowest in the series. A favorable reaction was more common on the East Coast of the United States, where 56% of the audience was male and 75% were under the age of 35. Despite a 48 percent decline to $4.6 million, it was still number one the following weekend.
What did reviewers say about Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)?
Film critics liked how Spiral (2021) tried to change up the formula of the franchise, but they said that it didn't give Saw the big boost it needed to become popular again.
On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, 37 percent of 221 reviewers' reviews are favorable, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus was Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) reveals an exciting new approach for the Saw series, even if the gruesome whole is somewhat less than its pieces.
The film received a score of 40 out of 100 on Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, based on 33 reviewers, indicating mixed or average reviews.
CinemaScore rated the picture a B- on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak said 63% of viewers liked it, with 43% saying they'd suggest it.
A film critic wrote that the movie takes a couple of unexpected turns, but considering that it's a thriller that's based on the issue of police immorality, the movie deals with that theme in a way that's weirdly offtopic and almost garishly generic.
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: From the Book of Saw (2021) compromised entertainment value for respectability and in the process didn't quite accomplish either.
Many film reviews deemed Spiral to be a truly terrifying, albeit unevenly paced, detective thriller, while also criticizing its writing for failing to communicate the possible tensions between the father-and-son relationship of its primary protagonists.
Some film reviewers paid praise to the performance and Spiral (2021)'s plain yet captivating idea, but also provided notes to the voice of the unknown murderer, who he thought sounded like Kermit the Frog, and stated that for this movie's genuine audience, the screams and the gore aren't something to be endured. They're truly the appeal.
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 reviewer in his one star and a half review, offered the picture critical notes for its tone and Darren Lynn Bousman's directing, which he stated disappointed him owing to his love for the performers, calling it outright unreadable for its lack of tension, plotline, and movement in the storyline.
A third film reviewer enjoyed the opening sequence, but they felt that it was the only excellent portion of the film. They summed up their thoughts on the film by noting that the idea is dishonest at best and fear mongering at worst. This movie doesn't have as as much wit as it thinks it does, like when Jigsaw poses one of his obvious puzzles.
Spiral (2021) is a sequel that wants to woo Saw enthusiasts and mainstream viewers equally, but Spiral: 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 (2021) 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 (2021) inspired Decker Shado to express his ideas. Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), the newest film in the Saw series, comes from the Book of Saw and the imagination of Chris Rock. After a whole Summer of Saw, you should probably know the routine by now: a murderer is on the loose, testing his victims with mechanical contraptions that are as inventive as they are scary. At least, that's the idea. A number of these traps left a lot to be desired... and the technique, as well as the purpose, is incorrect. His analysis explains it much better.
It's not exactly a waste of a notion, according to another film reviewer. The franchise, on the other hand, does not need a relaunch. Spiral (2021) gets some fresh blood with Rock's participation, but after a promising start, it merely becomes a really good Saw movie with a few more stars than usual—one whose jaundiced lighting and procedural narrative more closely resemble David Fincher's Se7en than anything else. Consider the game a failure if the goal was to determine whether a new approach on a long-running series could withstand the sequel machine's chopping and dicing.
Spiral blunders through its central mystery without grace, style, or even much thought, according to a film critic. Even the death traps are unimaginative. He acknowledged the film's potential, stating that the most frustrating aspect of Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) is that there is a better, smarter film underneath all of the nonsense. There are far too many quick cuts and scene transitions. The grating dialogue, which is shouted at full volume, is irritating. Spiral (2021) is ultimately a film about corrupt, even murderous cops who face a reckoning, and that kind of material has the potential to be both subversive and timely for a Hollywood film, but it's been said that Spiral is almost maddening in how little it seems to care about any of this. It only wants to bleed a lot, which it does.
Will there be a sequel to Spiral: From the Book of Saw?
Twisted Pictures confirmed in April 2021 that a sequel film, titled Saw X, was in the works. Bousman, on the other hand, stated that the announcement was made prematurely, which surprised him and the film's producers. He stated that just because they made Spiral: From the Book of Saw doesn't mean the Saw franchise is dead. Spiral (2021)'s arrival does not rule out Saw IX. This isn't the ninth installment in the Saw series. Jigsaw could easily be followed by Saw IX. I believe they are waiting to see how Spiral: From the Book of Saw performs and how audiences react before deciding what to do next. The script was finished in December of that year, according to Josh Stolberg.
Is there going to be a TV show based on Spiral: From the Book of Saw?
Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs said in an April 2021 interview with Deadline Hollywood that Lionsgate TV is in early negotiations to produce a television series based on Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), with Mark Burg and Oren Koules' Twisted Television productions.