This week, in celebration of their 30th anniversary, ‘Ghostbusters’ is returning to movie houses around the country for a limited theatrical release. But they’re not the only classic genre film commemorating a milestone this year because the film that launched the Guinness Book of World Records’ Most Successful Horror Franchise will return to theaters to scare a whole new generation of moviegoers for one week in October.
Let the game begin… Again! After completing the series with its final chapter in 2010, Lionsgate announced earlier this week that they would be celebrating the 10th anniversary of ‘Saw’ by brining Jigsaw and his heinous, unthinkable acts back to the big screen this Halloween season. After grossing over $874 million at the box office worldwide with seven films, the company will go back to the beginning of the series on Friday, October 31, 2014 to present the very first collaboration between director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell, who have since gone on to create another successful horror franchise, ‘Insidious’, when Wan isn’t directing high-profile films such as ‘The Conjuring’ and ‘Fast & Furious 7’.
In a press release from the studio, Lionsgate President of Acquisitions & Co-Productions Jason Constantine expressed their excitement to bring the first film in one of their most popular franchises back to movie theaters this fall:
“The launch of ‘Saw’ was a signature event in Lionsgate’s history, establishing our first franchise and paving the way for our growth into a global studio. We are excited for our fans to revisit the twisted magic that first blew their minds on Halloween 2004.”
Since it’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, ‘Saw’ has become a cult classic that has found life in other ways besides the other films that it spawned. Japanese video game company Konami developed two games to supplement the films and featured even more of Jigsaw’s devious “games” in a visually intense psychological thriller in the same vein as ‘Silent Hill.’ The franchise has also lent itself to a number of theme park attractions around the world, including a maze made by Universal Studios in 2009 for their annual Halloween Horror Nights that contained various traps and scenes from the films. But none of this could have been possible without the now iconic puppet and the serial killer pulling the strings.
Will you be planning on catching ‘Saw’ when it returns to theaters this October? Did you catch it during its first run ten years ago? And what did you think of the subsequent sequels in the years following? Let us know in the comments below.
