Dodge_Sniper
Active Member
Guys, bear with me. It's getting to be that time of year, so we're gonna have a lot more updates in the last few months before SAW IV is released! 
IGN: Saw IV Previewhttp://movies.ign.com/articles/798/798800p1.html
Saw IV is next for the series, scheduled for a Halloween 2007 release, with Bousman back as director. IGN recently caught up with the helmer, producer Oren Koules, and the series' star killer, Jigsaw himself, Tobin Bell, to discuss the new film. The first topic that came up during our chat was the notion that four movies in four years seems like a real grind, but as Bousman sees it, the filmmakers are only serving a larger game plan.
"One of the great things is we are not churning them out, we just never stop production. Unlike X-Files, which I used to work on," says the director (whose IMDb credits list him as having served as "honey wagon attendant" on that show). "I'd always ask, 'Do you guys know where this is going to? Do you have an answer?' And they were like, 'No, we don't.' We know where [Saw] is going and there is a definite conclusion … and we figured it out. When we were writing part two, Leigh and I sat down and asked, 'Where do we want this thing to go to, where does this end?' And did I think that I was coming back on III? No. Or IV? No, I don't think so. I thought III would have been the end for me. Definitely III was the end of that story. But it was always envisioned for there to be separate stories to be going on in Saw and I just happen to take part in the beginning of the next story."
Koules, who's been with the series since its first installment, disagrees with the idea that one picture a year is a fast turnaround -- in this day and age, anyway, where feature-quality television shows churn out 20 or more episodes a year.
"It's really not [that fast]," he says. "Look at Law & Order. They do 24 episodes a year, 24 one-hour episodes with great writing, great production value. We're only doing one hour-and-40-minute, hour-and-50-minute movie a year. So we've already written… V's being written; VI is being written."
So mark it on your calendars now, folks -- your plans for Halloween 2008 and 2009 have been made for you. And without giving anything away (regarding the events of the third film or the upcoming fourth), Koules does admit that Saw III was a pretty definitive chapter in the series. How does the new film tie into what has come before, then?
"It's not a prequel. It's not a sequel," says the producer cryptically. "It works. I can tell you that it's an idea that we worked on a year and a half ago with Leigh. We sat and worked on it, and then last May when we were shooting we had an idea of a structure to do, even before we were 100-percent positive about what we were doing with Tobin. And it works. It really works, and this isn't about whoring ourselves out, making as much money as we can. In some ways, it's the best story. James and Leigh approved the story and loved it. We flew up to Sundance with James and Leigh, [executive producers] Pete Block and Jason Constantine, [producer] Mark [Burg] and myself, and Darren, and spent two days making sure it worked, and it's perfect. In some ways, it's the most exciting story. And it's really not hype."
The return of the character of Jigsaw for the fourth film might raise some eyebrows for those who saw part three, but the man who plays Jiggy, Tobin Bell, assures us that it won't be a Dallas kind of gimmick that brings his character back into the fold. No, Saw III wasn't a dream. No, Jigsaw's twin cousin from Texas is not taking over his duties in the new film. Bell says audiences can expect a more interesting explanation for the character's return than those weak stand-bys. One thing is certain, however: This will be the same Jigsaw we've always known.
"From my perspective, that guy was a guy in a bed in Saw III, who was dealing with Amanda in front of him the same way as a guy in a bed in my house or your house would be dealing with a girl," says Bell. "I don't view him... I don't approach him as some kind of strange, diabolical insane person. That's not his view of himself, so why should I approach him that way?"
Bousman readily acknowledges that he was adamantly against coming back for the fourth film -- he was all sawed out, one might say. But he found the script by newcomers to the franchise Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton (Feast) too good to pass up.
"The first card to get me to come back was to just look at the script," he recalls. "And I was on page 85 and I didn't feel any way about it. I wasn't pissed or excited about it, but then I got to page 87 where I was like, 'Goddamn it, they got me.' And I had been doing this for the last three years and they got me. That is when I knew I had to come back, and they end it this time around -- I am not going to say there is a twist, but to me Saw films are like magic tricks in that you go in there and you are looking for the way they are going to do it, and then they do the trick and you are like, 'S--t, we missed it.' And then you go back again to watch it again to see if you can see it."
An aspect of the series that has intrigued fans is its unwillingness to adhere to an obvious chronological timeline. It's difficult to say which story in the franchise comes first, which comes last, and so on, and that's an element that will continue to be used in part four.
"We continue to do that," says Koules before adding with a laugh that, "Nothing was intentional from the get-go. We took a million dollars down to a warehouse that they shoot porn and bad music videos in. But once it started rolling, yes, James and Leigh were really, really involved [in that]."
As for where Saw IV will fit into the overall series, Bousman says that while the third film was more emotional as opposed to surprising when compared to the first two, he sees the latest entry as being a combination of all three pictures that have come before.
"It is definitely more I and II," says the helmer. "There is definitely emotion in it, but I've killed off everybody and I've had to bring in new characters now. In III, you were with people you had seen before; there was a vested interest. You knew Shawnee [Smith] and you knew Tobin. And it is starting again. And you are not going to have that emotional impact because Shawnee and Tobin are going through this, but there definitely is much more character stuff than there ever was in II."
Check back at IGN soon for more on Saw IV.
IGN: Saw IV Previewhttp://movies.ign.com/articles/798/798800p1.html
Saw IV is next for the series, scheduled for a Halloween 2007 release, with Bousman back as director. IGN recently caught up with the helmer, producer Oren Koules, and the series' star killer, Jigsaw himself, Tobin Bell, to discuss the new film. The first topic that came up during our chat was the notion that four movies in four years seems like a real grind, but as Bousman sees it, the filmmakers are only serving a larger game plan.
"One of the great things is we are not churning them out, we just never stop production. Unlike X-Files, which I used to work on," says the director (whose IMDb credits list him as having served as "honey wagon attendant" on that show). "I'd always ask, 'Do you guys know where this is going to? Do you have an answer?' And they were like, 'No, we don't.' We know where [Saw] is going and there is a definite conclusion … and we figured it out. When we were writing part two, Leigh and I sat down and asked, 'Where do we want this thing to go to, where does this end?' And did I think that I was coming back on III? No. Or IV? No, I don't think so. I thought III would have been the end for me. Definitely III was the end of that story. But it was always envisioned for there to be separate stories to be going on in Saw and I just happen to take part in the beginning of the next story."
Koules, who's been with the series since its first installment, disagrees with the idea that one picture a year is a fast turnaround -- in this day and age, anyway, where feature-quality television shows churn out 20 or more episodes a year.
"It's really not [that fast]," he says. "Look at Law & Order. They do 24 episodes a year, 24 one-hour episodes with great writing, great production value. We're only doing one hour-and-40-minute, hour-and-50-minute movie a year. So we've already written… V's being written; VI is being written."
So mark it on your calendars now, folks -- your plans for Halloween 2008 and 2009 have been made for you. And without giving anything away (regarding the events of the third film or the upcoming fourth), Koules does admit that Saw III was a pretty definitive chapter in the series. How does the new film tie into what has come before, then?
"It's not a prequel. It's not a sequel," says the producer cryptically. "It works. I can tell you that it's an idea that we worked on a year and a half ago with Leigh. We sat and worked on it, and then last May when we were shooting we had an idea of a structure to do, even before we were 100-percent positive about what we were doing with Tobin. And it works. It really works, and this isn't about whoring ourselves out, making as much money as we can. In some ways, it's the best story. James and Leigh approved the story and loved it. We flew up to Sundance with James and Leigh, [executive producers] Pete Block and Jason Constantine, [producer] Mark [Burg] and myself, and Darren, and spent two days making sure it worked, and it's perfect. In some ways, it's the most exciting story. And it's really not hype."
The return of the character of Jigsaw for the fourth film might raise some eyebrows for those who saw part three, but the man who plays Jiggy, Tobin Bell, assures us that it won't be a Dallas kind of gimmick that brings his character back into the fold. No, Saw III wasn't a dream. No, Jigsaw's twin cousin from Texas is not taking over his duties in the new film. Bell says audiences can expect a more interesting explanation for the character's return than those weak stand-bys. One thing is certain, however: This will be the same Jigsaw we've always known.
"From my perspective, that guy was a guy in a bed in Saw III, who was dealing with Amanda in front of him the same way as a guy in a bed in my house or your house would be dealing with a girl," says Bell. "I don't view him... I don't approach him as some kind of strange, diabolical insane person. That's not his view of himself, so why should I approach him that way?"
Bousman readily acknowledges that he was adamantly against coming back for the fourth film -- he was all sawed out, one might say. But he found the script by newcomers to the franchise Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton (Feast) too good to pass up.
"The first card to get me to come back was to just look at the script," he recalls. "And I was on page 85 and I didn't feel any way about it. I wasn't pissed or excited about it, but then I got to page 87 where I was like, 'Goddamn it, they got me.' And I had been doing this for the last three years and they got me. That is when I knew I had to come back, and they end it this time around -- I am not going to say there is a twist, but to me Saw films are like magic tricks in that you go in there and you are looking for the way they are going to do it, and then they do the trick and you are like, 'S--t, we missed it.' And then you go back again to watch it again to see if you can see it."
An aspect of the series that has intrigued fans is its unwillingness to adhere to an obvious chronological timeline. It's difficult to say which story in the franchise comes first, which comes last, and so on, and that's an element that will continue to be used in part four.
"We continue to do that," says Koules before adding with a laugh that, "Nothing was intentional from the get-go. We took a million dollars down to a warehouse that they shoot porn and bad music videos in. But once it started rolling, yes, James and Leigh were really, really involved [in that]."
As for where Saw IV will fit into the overall series, Bousman says that while the third film was more emotional as opposed to surprising when compared to the first two, he sees the latest entry as being a combination of all three pictures that have come before.
"It is definitely more I and II," says the helmer. "There is definitely emotion in it, but I've killed off everybody and I've had to bring in new characters now. In III, you were with people you had seen before; there was a vested interest. You knew Shawnee [Smith] and you knew Tobin. And it is starting again. And you are not going to have that emotional impact because Shawnee and Tobin are going through this, but there definitely is much more character stuff than there ever was in II."
Check back at IGN soon for more on Saw IV.
