Summary
Kevin Greutert, director of Saw X, believes there is no obvious new direction for the franchise, but still expects more Saw movies in the future.
The Saw franchise has achieved great success at the box office, and Saw X will further the narrative by occurring chronologically between the first two movies.
Potential forthcoming plotlines may delve into the unresolved endings of The Final Chapter and Spiral, presenting fresh characters and diverging from the established formula of the franchise.
As Kevin Greutert returns to helm the series, the director/editor of Saw X has uncertain thoughts on the future of the horror franchise. Previously involved in editing the first five Saw movies and directing the sixth and seventh installments, Greutert is back for the latest chapter in the franchise created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, alongside veteran stars Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith. Saw X will venture into the past, set between the first two movies, as John Kramer enacts a new game on a group of medical frauds who pretended to cure his cancer.
In an interview with SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar+), Greutert was asked about the potential future of the Saw franchise after Saw X. The director/editor expressed conflicting thoughts on what could come next, noting that there is no clear "obvious new direction" for the horror series, while still acknowledging the likelihood of another sequel. Read Greutert's comments below:
There’s no obvious new direction to go after this film. But I think there probably will be more Saw movies, particularly if this one is successful.
How The Saw Franchise Can Continue After X
Given Greutert's belief in the production of another Saw film following the upcoming installment, it is understandable considering the moderate success of the franchise at the box office since Jigsaw revived it in 2010, despite initial claims of The Final Chapter. The 2017 release kept viewers in suspense regarding its placement within the overall franchise timeline until it was revealed to occur before the original film as well as after The Final Chapter. Its subsequent successor, Spiral, led by Chris Rock, took a unique approach by mostly severing ties with previous installments, featuring a killer who drew inspiration from Jigsaw rather than being directly associated with John Kramer, a.k.a. Bell.
Despite the skepticism of the Saw X director regarding the franchise's future, there are several possible directions it can take beyond the upcoming tenth movie. One option is to expand on The Final Chapter's unresolved ending, in which Dr. Lawrence Gordon (played by Cary Elwes) was revealed to have become an apprentice of Jigsaw after surviving the original film. He may have formed a new group of killers, and it is possible that one of Gordon's group members is actually Matt Passmore's character Logan, or alternatively, that Gordon killed the original apprentice in order to take control.
Another potential storyline to explore after Saw X is the cliffhanger ending of Spiral, where Max Minghella's character, Schenk/Emmerson, creates his own game to avenge his father's death at the hands of corrupt police officers and successfully manages to escape. As his traps were more personal than those created by Kramer, the character's arc could be further developed. However, given the strict adherence of Jigsaw's apprentices to his methods, a sequel could involve them hunting down Schenk/Emmerson, resulting in a movie that deviates from the franchise's usual formula.
Source: GamesRadar+