Spiral: From the Book of Saw is a horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger that was released in 2021. It is the ninth film in the Saw film series. The film, which stars Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson, recounts police attempts to apprehend a Jigsaw impersonator. Executive producers include the series' original creators, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, as well as Rock and series veteran Kevin Greutert.Jigsaw was Chris Rock's first foray into the horror genre, and he wanted to continue the Saw franchise in that direction. In the end, the Spierig Brothers, who directed Jigsaw, opted not to return for a follow-up. To far, Rock has worked on a screenplay by Stolberg and Goldfinger, which was formally unveiled in May of 2019. Production in Toronto was completed by August, with all cast members completing their roles by that time.
Spiral was originally slated to be released in May 2020, but owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed and was released theatrically in the United States on May 14, 2021, by Lionsgate. Critics gave the picture mixed reviews, praising the franchise's new direction but disagreeing on whether it had truly succeeded in modernizing it.
What exactly happens in the movie Spiral (2021)?
Off-duty Detective Marv Bozwick pursues a criminal through a sewage pipe during a 4th of July celebration. After being attacked by a man in a pig mask, Bozwick wakes to find himself dangling by his tongue in a subway tunnel. He is offered a choice: cut out his tongue and survive, or wait until the next train comes and kill him. Bozwick can't escape the trap and is killed by the train. The following day, Captain Angie Garza assigns Detective Zeke Banks rookie William Schenk. Banks and Schenk examine Bozwick's death and discover similarities to the Jigsaw Killer's method.
A murder investigator called Fitch, who rejected a backup call from Banks and almost died, is taken and put in a trap where he must pull off his fingers to prevent electrocution; he also dies. Banks' experience with Fitch leads several cops to mistrust him. A package comes with a pig puppet and Schenk's tattooed flesh inside. A little vial inside the box leads detectives to a butcher shop that Banks and his father, former chief Marcus Banks, frequented. On arrival, the squad finds a recording recorder and Schenk's skinned body. Marcus tracks down the murderer himself and gets snatched from a factory. Soon later, Garza is abducted and put in a trap in the precinct's cold storage where she must cut her spinal chord to stop hot wax from pouring down her face. Banks finds her corpse after she dies from injuries caused by the hot wax.
Banks is taken captive while following a lead, and when he comes to in the warehouse, he is tied to a pipe and there is a hacksaw nearby. He gives some thought to cutting off his arm, but he is able to get away by using a bobby pin that is loose. He then finds his old colleague, Peter Dunleavy, who was sacked and sentenced to jail after Banks uncovered a murder he committed, shackled in place. Banks was the one who exposed the crime. In front of him is a large piece of machinery designed to break glass, and it has been adapted to swiftly throw shrapnel in his direction. A voice on a tape recorder tells Banks that he has the option of either releasing him or abandoning him to his fate. In spite of Banks' best efforts, he is unable to retrieve the key in time to rescue Dunleavy. Banks then moves to another chamber where he discovers Schenk, who it turns out pretended to be dead by using the skinned body of the thief who lured Bozwick into the tunnels. Schenk was the copycat the whole time, and it was shown that he had faked his own death. He says that his real surname is Emmerson and that he is the son of Charlie Emmerson, who was the victim of a murder committed by Dunleavy because Charlie had promised to testify against a corrupt law enforcement official. In addition to this, he discloses that Marcus, during the period that he served as chief, purposefully sheltered corrupt cops in order to rid the streets of crime more effectively in accordance with Article 8.
Emmerson believes Banks may be an ally, so he puts him to the ultimate test by suspending Marcus in the air and slowly draining his blood. Emmerson dials 9-1-1 and pretends to be a citizen being chased by a gunman, prompting a SWAT squad to be sent to his area. He delivers Banks a handgun and one cartridge, instructing him to either fire a target that would save Marcus while allowing Emmerson to go, or murder Emmerson and let Marcus bleed to death. To rescue his father, Banks shoots the target, loosening his shackles and lowers him to the ground, before fighting Emmerson. The SWAT squad comes shortly after and accidentally sets off a tripwire, forcing Marcus' handcuffs to tug him upward once again. Marcus' arm has a gun attached to it, causing the SWAT squad to mistake him for the shooter and murder him. As Emmerson flees, Banks shouts despondently.
Who did Spiral: From the Book of Saw?
Detective Zeke Banks was played by Chris Rock.
Detective William Schenk/Emmerson was played by Max Minghella. Leonidas Castrounis played William. Jackson played Marcus Banks.
Marisol Nichols was Angie Garza.
The role of Detective Marv Bozwick was played by Daniel Petronijevic.
Detective Fitch was played by Richard Zeppieri.
Dunleavy was played by Patrick McManus.
As Officer Jeannie Lewis, Ali Johnson was played by Ali Johnson.
Palmer played Kara Bozwick. Sergeant Morgey Silva was played by Dylan Roberts. Detective Drury was played by K. C. Collins. Deborah Kraus was played by Edie Inksetter.
Coroner Chada was played by Nazneen Contractor. Detective Tim O'Brien was played by Thomas Mitchell.
Chad Camilleri gave the performance of Benny Wrights.
Speez was acted by Christopher Ramsay. Charlie Emmerson was performed by Frank Licari.
Lisa Banks (Genelle Williams)
Officer Pat Jones was acted by Trevor Gretzky.
Tobin Bell, who played John Kramer/Jigsaw in all of the other Saw movies, didn't come back for this one. This makes Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) the first movie in the series where neither Bell nor the Jigsaw character appear in person, only in photos. Bousman said that the killer in the movie is not the original Jigsaw, but a copycat, and that he doesn't plan to cast Bell in the famous role. Bell said he would like to come back as Jigsaw if the story went into Billy the Puppet's past.
Spiral's association with Chris Rock
Chris Rock contacted Lionsgate with his Spiral proposal in order to revitalize the Saw series and his own career.Chris Rock met Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns at a friend's wedding in Brazil and believed shooting a horror film would be a fresh direction for his career. He wanted to integrate humorous aspects in the picture. Lionsgate was interested in Rock's plan to prolong the series. Lionsgate CEO Joe Drake said Rock's approach was respectful to the material while reinvigorating the brand with his humour, creativity, and enthusiasm for the iconic horror property. By January 2018, reports suggested Lionsgate was planning a ninth Saw picture without the Spierig Brothers. The filmmakers told Screen Rant that their picture sets up sequels. By April 2018, Twisted Pictures was developing a Jigsaw sequel with Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger.
Following Jigsaw's release, Stolberg and Goldfinger pitched a new Saw film focused solely on John Kramer / Jigsaw rather than any of his established apprentices to series veterans Mark Burg and Oren Koules, but Burg and Koules called the duo to inform them about Rock's ideas for a new film, with Rock contacting them shortly afterwards to discuss his concept. Previously, various writers had submitted their ideas for the next Saw picture to Lionsgate, but none had been successful, while Stolberg and Goldfinger had come up with eight alternative versions for the film until Rock came and fused his with the duo's. Burg and Koules assigned the pair the task of developing a pitch for Rock. Stolberg and Goldfinger did just that, and their concept was accepted by both Lionsgate and Rock, prompting them to compose their first script, which was greenlit a week later. Rock assisted Stolberg and Goldfinger with their writing, reworking the tale as needed.
In an early draft, Rock's character was linked to Danny Glover's David Tapp from the previous film. Stolberg and Goldfinger decided against going in this way since it didn't smell right. Bousman said in May 2021 that negotiations had been place regarding perhaps recasting Costas Mandylor as Mark Hoffman in a future film. Tobin Bell's appearance as Jigsaw in the film was heavily debated by Bousman and the crew until the last day of production, but they thought that bringing Bell back would make the film seem like the ninth edition of the Saw series rather than a new picture as it was intended. Because the Jigsaw character was killed off in the third picture, Bousman believed that earlier films did Jigsaw a disservice by bringing him into the tale via flashbacks, and he didn't want to make the same error in Spiral (2021) or disrespect Bell's legendary performance. Bousman explored including Bell in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) by having Bell perform a Johnny Cash song during the concluding scene, but discarded the idea because he thought it was too gimmicky.
How come Tobin Bell wasn't in Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)?
Spiral: From the Book of Saw was the first Saw film without Tobin Bell repeating his role as Jigsaw, making it the first Saw film without Bell.
Despite discussions after the first test screening and through post-production, Stolberg told Bloody Disgusting that Jigsaw was never included in any draft of Spiral (2021)'s screenplay. They felt that including Jigsaw would alter the story they were trying to tell, not to diminish the character but to move the franchise in a new direction. Stolberg also felt that due to the franchise's timeline, any possible connection John Kramer could have had with William Schenk / The Spiral Killer should have been when the latter was still a child; Stolberg and Goldfinger proposed an after-credits sequence where Kramer met a young Schenk after the murder of the latter's father and bonded with him, possibly giving him the puppet he later uses as the Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) Killer.
This new Jigsaw copycat is different from the original in appearance, so it was decided to use a new puppet called Mr. Snuggles to replace Billy the Puppet. Bousman felt that if the original Jigsaw was changed, then a different puppet should also be used to ensure that the killer could not possibly be comparable. The production feared that reusing Bell's voice for Mr. Snuggles could have created questions about the relationship between both killers; an early draft actually featured Jigsaw's voice, only to then be revealed a digitally altered version of his voice and the story originally had all the speeches as actually being past recordings of Jigsaw's voice using words in a different order to show that the Spiral: From the Book of Saw Killer had digitally rearranged the words. When they couldn't come up with a replacement for Bell's voice, the filmmakers had a difficult time locating one. There were several other human voices that Bousman tried before deciding on the computer-simulated one. Only two days before the sound mix was completed, the final voice was chosen for the picture.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw's set
The film was officially in pre-production on May 16, 2019. Former series director Darren Lynn Bousman is back to direct the movie, and Burg and Koules are producing it along with him. In addition to writing the story treatment, Rock was also the show's executive producer.Rock now has James Wan, Leigh Whannell, and Daniel Heffner serving as executive producers. Wan and Whannell were the original filmmakers of Saw. It has been established that Stolberg and Goldfinger will be writing the screenplay.
Rock said that he has liked the Saw movies since the first one came out in 2004. He was excited about the chance to take this to a new, very dark, and strange place.
After Rock demanded that he direct the film, Bousman rejected down the opportunity to helm a Broadway production in New York City.
It was suggested by Burg and Koules that Rock's approach of Saw was analogous to what Eddie Murphy had done in 48 Hrs. with buddy cop movies. Furthermore, Bousman stated that Spiral (2021) contained less violence and gore than previous Saw films, expressing the belief that the gore and violence were the gimmick for him when he first started working in the Saw films, but that both elements now serve the story, which focuses more on character, tension and fear.
Stolberg also clarified that the ninth film would be part of the same canon as the previous eight, and that it will neither be a reboot or a straight sequel to Jigsaw.Spiral: From the Book of Saw cast
Zeke Banks (Rock) Rock, Stolberg, and Goldfinger conceived the character from conversations they had before writing the screenplay. Rock wondered what he would do if he were the original Saw protagonist Dr. Lawrence Gordon and forced to cut off his own foot. They decided it would be interesting if Rock played a cop ostracized by his colleagues.
Samuel L. Jackson decided to portray Chief Marcus Banks because he wanted to do something new, such as the climax sequence in which his character is hung up like a marionette. Marisol Nichols was cast as Captain Angie Garza, a character that was initially scripted for a male actress but was finally given to Nichols, who, while being a Saw fan, preferred to watch David Fincher's Seven instead of the prior films in preparation for the role. Patrick McManus auditioned for the part of Detective Marv Bozwick, but was called back to portray Peter Dunleavy, while Dan Petronijevic was cast as Bozwick, in an effort to pursue an acting career on film and television following years playing on stage.
Max Minghella took up the part of William Schenk / The Spiral (2021) Killer because he desired to play in a movie with straightforward story-telling like the buddy cops of his childhood like 48 Hrs., and when he read the script, he believed it was that, as well as a Saw picture.
How was it to make Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)?
The main filming started on July 8, 2019, in Toronto, Ontario. The working title was The Organ Donor, and Jordan Oram was the cinematographer. It was announced that Rock, Jackson, Minghella, and Nichols would be in the movie. Joe Drake, the CEO of Lionsgate, said that Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols would make this film unique in the Saw series, and they couldn't wait to show fans of this franchise this unexpected and scary new story. This was the next level of Saw playing at full speed. Rock had made changes to the script on set and rewrote the scene where his character first appears. Bousman says that a scene with a trap had to be taken out of the movie because it was too scary.
Filming officially ended on August 28, 2019. Dev Singh finished the editing during post-production.
Marketing Spiral (2021)
The working title for the film was The Organ Donor until the name Spiral (2021) and the Canadian distributor, Mongrel Media, were leaked to the press on January 22, 2020. On February 5, 2020, the first teaser poster and trailer revealed Spiral: From the Book of Saw as the film's title.
The release of Spiral (2021) in cinemas and on streaming services
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) was set for release on October 23, 2020, by Lionsgate Films. July 2019 rescheduled it until May 15, 2020. Due to COVID-19, the film's release was postponed until May 21, 2021, stealing John Wick: Chapter 4's position. It was moved forward to May 14, 2021, when cinemas reopened.
On May 25, 2021, Lionsgate announced that Spiral: From the Book of Saw would stream exclusively on Starz beginning October 8, 2021 in the US. Spiral: From the Book of Saw was launched on Canadian PVOD June 1, 2021.
How did people rate Spiral: From the Book of Saw?
When the Motion Picture Association gave the picture an NC-17 classification 11 times, director Darren Lynn Bousman ultimately trimmed enough sequences to achieve a R rating.
What was the box office gross for Spiral?
Spiral (2021) grossed $23.2 million in the U.S. and copyright and $17.3 million in other regions as of March 3, 2022.
In the United States and copyright, Spiral (2021) was released with Those Who Wish Me Dead, Profile, and Finding You, and was anticipated to make $10–15 million from 2,811 screens in its opening weekend. On its opening day, the picture grossed $3,750,000 (including $750,000 from Thursday night previews), decreasing its projected gross to $9 million. It went on to launch at $8.8 million, leading the box office (the sixth time for the series) but marked the lowest opening weekend of the franchise. Audiences reported on were 56 percent male and 75 percent under the age of 35, with a favorable reaction occurring more commonly near the East Coast of the United States. It stayed in top position the next weekend, falling 48 percent to $4.6 million.
What did film reviewers think about Spiral (2021)?
Film critics liked how Spiral tried to change up the formula of the franchise, but they said it didn't give Saw the big boost it needed to become popular again.
On Rotten Tomatoes, a website that collects reviews, 37 percent of the 221 reviews are positive, giving the movie an average rating of 5.1/10. The general opinion of the site's critics was that Spiral suggests an interesting new direction for the Saw series, even though the gory whole is not as good as its parts.
Metacritic gave the film a 40 out of 100 based on 33 reviewers, indicating mixed or mediocre reviews.
CinemaScore scored the picture a B- on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak said 63% of viewers liked it and 43% would suggest it.
According to one film reviewer, the picture takes an unexpected twist or two, but given that it's a thriller about police immorality, the film handles that subject in a strangely offtopic, even garishly generic manner.A separate film reviewer said the writing caught the grizzled police movie tone and drew several interesting characters, but the narrative was repetitive, the mystery was annoyingly obvious, and the inventive deaths were less innovative than ever before. For the sake of respectability, Spiral made a trade-off in entertainment value, but it failed to deliver on either.
Many film reviews praised Spiral (2021) as a really terrifying, albeit unevenly paced, detective thriller, while simultaneously criticizing its writing for failing to depict the potential tensions between its major characters' father-son relationship.
Some film reviewers praised the performances and Spiral's plain yet captivating idea, but noted the killer's voice sounded like Kermit the Frog and that the screams and gore aren't for the movie's true audience. They're appealing.
A film reviewer awarded the film one rating out of five and criticized the climax, noting that he believed it was hurried and half-assed and clumsily written and worst of all, progressively uninteresting. Finally, he declared that the game was finished.
In his one-and-a-half-star review, another film critic criticized the movie's tone and Darren Lynn Bousman's direction, which he said disappointed him after he praised the cast. He called the movie "impossible to follow" because it didn't have any tension, story, or progress in the plot.
A separate film reviewer complimented the opening sequence but deemed it to be the film's sole redeeming feature, stating that the idea is "dishonest at best and fearmongering at worst." This film, like one of Jigsaw's easy riddles, is not as clever as it thinks it is.
Spiral (2021): From the Book of Saw is likely to offend both Saw devotees and mainstream viewers, according to one observer. It's a shallow replica of the series, lacking key aesthetic and narrative elements. It's also a terrible picture that can't manage a socially significant tale. Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) is hardly a Saw picture, delivering just momentarily on the primal pleasure of mutilation and none of the series' other precepts, he said. It's the most artless, tactless form of a failed police procedural pilot.
YouTube reviewer Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) was discussed by Decker Shado. From the Book of Saw, and the mind of Chris Rock it's Spiral (2021), the latest movie in the Saw franchise having come out late in 2021. After we got an entire SUMMER OF SAW you should probably know the drill by now, a killer is on the loose who doesn't directly do in his prey, but rather tests them with mechanical contraptions as ingenious as they are disturbing. Or at least, that's the concept. A lot of these traps leave quite a bit to be desired... and the methodology is also a bit off, as is the goal. It's explained much better in his YouTube review.
According to the opinion of one more film critic, the idea does not go to waste in this case. However, what the franchise really needs is not an innovative twist on anything. After a promising start, the film just becomes a pretty okay Saw movie with some bigger names than usual; one whose jaundiced lighting and procedural storytelling recall David Fincher's Se7en the most. The involvement of Rock in Spiral (2021) brings some new blood to the project, but after that, the movie just becomes a pretty okay Saw movie. Consider the game to be over if the objective was to determine whether or not a new perspective on a long-running series could survive being hacked and diced by the sequel machine.
A film reviewer gave the film a bad review, noting that Spiral: From the Book of Saw fumbles through its fundamental enigma without elegance or flair, or even much thinking. Even the death traps are oddly unimaginative. He admitted the picture had promise, noting that the most frustrating thing about Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) is that there is a better, wiser movie lying behind all the foolishness here. There are too many rapid cuts and speed ramping sequences. The horrible speech that's blasted at full volume is unpleasant. Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) is ultimately a picture about corrupt, and even deadly officers suddenly facing a reckoning, and that type of material has the potential to be both subversive, for a Hollywood movie, and current but remarked that Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) is almost irritating in how little it appears to care about any of this. It merely wants to bleed a lot of blood, which it does.
Will Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) have a second part?
In April 2021, it was confirmed that Twisted Pictures was making a sequel movie called "Saw X." But Bousman said that the announcement was made too soon, which surprised him and the film's producers. He said that just because they made Spiral, it doesn't mean that the Saw series is over. Even though Spiral is out, that doesn't mean that Saw IX won't happen. This is not the ninth movie in the series of Saw movies. There could very well be a Saw IX after Jigsaw. I think they are waiting to see how well Spiral: From the Book of Saw does and how people react to it before deciding what to do next. Josh Stolberg said that the script was finished that same year in December.
How likely is it that there will be a Spiral-themed television series?
In an April 2021 interview with Deadline Hollywood, Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs said that Lionsgate TV is talking with Mark Burg and Oren Koules of Twisted Television about making a TV show based on Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021).