Despite the fact that Spiral: From the Book of Saw is being critically panned and failed to hit its modest box office projections even with the star power of Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, the attempt at reviving the horror series still managed to pull off a notable feat over the weekend. The Saw franchise now has a total worldwide box office of over $1 billion. Via Variety:
It’s a significant achievement because the “Saw” movies carry modest production budgets — ranging from $1 million to $20 million — making profit margins all the sweeter. Even more notable, the “Saw” films aren’t particularly well received among critics or audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the nine films usually generate an average around 30%, while its CinemaScore rating from moviegoers tends to range between “B” and “C” grades.
Like most movies just making their way to theaters, Spiral: From the Book of Saw was supposed to be out over a year ago, but saw it’s release date pushed back because of the pandemic. However, Chris Rock has done his part to keep the movie in headlines thanks to his star power and his plans to revive the franchise by adding the one thing he’s best at: comedy.
“I love Saw, but I was like ‘wow, it has almost no humor at all.’ So, it seemed like a good place … good fertile ground,” Rock told IGN. “It’s still Saw … it’s bloody, it’s gory, but there’s like a sprinkling of humor here and there. We’re not revamping it, it’s not Scary Movie, it’s Saw.”
(Via Variety)