The undying nature of horror franchises is nothing new, but the announcement that theupcomingSawrebootnot only starsChris Rockbut is based on an original idea from the legendary comedian turned a lot of heads. It was announced last August that Rock would be spearheading a newSawmovie, writing a story treatment and starring in the film. It wouldn’t be completely disconnected from the rest of the franchise, asDarren Lynn Bousman—who helmedSaw II,Saw III, andSaw IV—signed on to direct, but the inclusion of Rock certainly adds a layer of intrigue for the ninth installment in the horror series.
So why did Chris Rock decide to make aSawmovie, exactly? Collider’s own Christina Radish posed that question directly to the performer recently at the Television Critics Association during an interview about his role in the upcoming fourth season ofFargo. As it turns out, Rock isn’t exactly a horror fanatic orSawsuperfan. His involvement stems from a chance meeting with the head of Lionsgate:
“I was at a friend’s wedding, and they introduced me to the head of Lionsgate. I was like, ‘Lionsgate? Oh,Saw.’ And they called me up. I was just poking fun at the Lionsgate guy aboutSaw.”
Rock saysSaw 9will be infused with some comedy, but will still deliver the horror goods:
“There are so many movies that I’ve watched and gone, ‘Three jokes would have made that movie a lot better.’ You know what I mean? A lot of times, you may get comedy in things, if it’s grounded, without it changing the movie, per se. Just like that story thatBeverly Hills Copwas written for Sylvester Stallone. Eddie Murphy was hired at the last minute, and they made kind of the same movie, but it was grounded with just a little here, here and here. So,Sawis really scary and really bloody. It’s aSawmovie. But every now and then, you take a little air out. It’s gonna be good.”
For Rock, starring in and concocting a newSawmovie was simply an opportunity to do something different:
“You wanna be interested in what you’re doing. I was like, ‘Fargo? That sounds great. That’s an adventure I haven’t been on. I’ve never done a television show before. Okay.’ And then, ‘A horror movie? I’ve never done that.’ Even without art, just in life, you wanna travel and see new things, you wanna meet new people, you wanna try new foods.”
Plot details for this newSawmovie are under wraps, but we do know that Rock co-stars alongsideSamuel L. JacksonandMax Minghella. As he says, there’s a lot of opportunity to play around in this particular sandbox given that this is the ninth entry. Why not try something new?
So once again the horror genre proves to be one of the most malleable and exciting genres for storytellers, just asJordan Peele,Ari Aster,Jennifer Kent, andDavid Gordon Greenhave created wildly different and thematically diverse films under the “horror” umbrella in recent years. Here’s hoping this newSawmovie delivers something different.
