Horror fans devastated as 11th installment of famed franchise gets cancelled

Saw XI, which was slated for release in September, has been scrapped.

According to Bloody Disgusting, the eleventh installment of the popular horror franchise has been cancelled, citing studio-level disagreements between producers at Lionsgate that date back to January 2024. The cancellation was confirmed by co-writer Patrick Melton.

The news comes as a shock to horror buffs, especially since 2023's Saw X was the best reviewed movie in the franchise with an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes, raking in a whopping $125 million at the box office. Saw fans have taken to social media to express their disappointment over the news.

"It's stalled at a managerial level," Patrick told The Hollywood Reporter. "It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There's higher-level things at play."

The co-writer explained: "The reason it's held up is just, there's inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can't quite get on the same page."

Director Kevin Greutert has also confirmed the news, commenting on Reddit post about the cancellation: "Let's just say that this past year+ has been among the saddest and most frustrating of my life," thanking fans for all their support.

The next installment had cast members Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith and Costas Mandylor reprising their roles, and was supposed to tackle similar issues that Saw VI explored, which centered around health insurance executives - a timely subject matter.

In fact, Patrick also revealed that he was classmates in college with slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at the University of Iowa.

The installment will be shelved indefinitely, while the future of the franchise remains uncertain after 20 years of scares.

One fan on social media wrote: "I was genuinely hyped for this. Saw X was a surprise banger and I was so looking forward to this," with another echoing: "Disappointing, Saw X was great."

Another fan added: "what the f--- am i gonna do with my life knowing saw xi is never gonna be made," while others joked that "it should have been Scream 7" that got the axe instead.

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