The upcoming Saw film, Saw XI, was originally slated for a fall 2025 theatrical release. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is facing significant pre-production issues. Sources tell the outlet that the film has had “zero progress” since writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan submitted a draft in spring 2024.

Creative team speaks out

Melton told The Hollywood Reporter that the hold-up isn’t due to him or Dunstan but rather internal conflicts within Lionsgate and the production team.

“We haven’t heard anything since May,” he said. “It’s stalled at a managerial level. It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There’s higher-level things at play. …The reason [the film is] held up is …there’s inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can’t quite get on the same page.”

A “timely” story waiting for the green light, says writer

If the film does eventually make it to theaters, it would be one of the Saw movies that tackles a “timely topic,” according to the article. However, no details about the plot have been released.

“Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that,” Melton said.

“It taps into the same themes of Saw VI, where you’re a citizen, you feel angry and frustrated with something, you feel like you can’t do anything, and John Kramer’s going to do it,” he added.

The last film in the franchise, 2023’s Saw X, starred Tobin Bell, who has played serial killer John Kramer throughout the series. The film also featured Michael Beach, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, Joshua Okamoto, Paulette Hernandez, Octavio Hinojosa, Jorge Briseño, and Costas Mandylor.

In Saw X, John travels to Mexico for an experimental procedure that he hopes will cure his cancer. However, he soon discovers that the procedure is part of a scam targeting desperate patients.