Saw franchise might have new owners soon: All about the negotiations between Blumhouse and Twisted Pictures

The creator of the original Saw, which became a successful franchise, James Wan, is seemingly getting his IP back. Some reports, according to Deadline, suggest that Blumhouse is seeking to acquire a portion of the rights that Twisted currently holds. Lionsgate already owns 50% of the rights, and if this happens, Mark Burg and Oren Koules are likely to lose their ownership of this IP.

James Wan kickstarted this bloody engine that was made on a mere $1.2 million budget in 2004 and went on to earn $104 million globally. Two decades later, we have ten films with no details on what's happening with the next chapter of this booby traps saga.

Other than Wan, Darren Lynn Bousman, David Hackl, Kevin Greutert, and The Spierig Brothers have directed the films in the franchise. While it has received mixed reviews from critics, it is one of the most successful horror franchises, commercially speaking.

How has the Saw franchise performed commercially and critically?

The first film came out in 2004. (Image via Lionsgate Movies)

There are currently ten films in the horror franchise, and the third film remains the biggest commercial success of all. In 2021, Spiral holds the last spot on this list, with only $40.6 million in box office earnings.

Saw III (2006) - $164 million
Saw II (2005) - $147.7 million
Saw IV (2007) - $139.3 million
Saw 3D (2010) - $136.1 million
Saw V (2008) - $113.8 million
Saw X (2023) - $112.2 million
Saw (2004) - $104 million
Jigsaw (2017) - $102 million
Saw VI (2009) - $68.2 million
Spiral (2023) - $40.6 million

All in all, the franchise has made over a billion dollars from the films.

These films never had a bad history with the critics, it seems, as the only movie in the franchise that sits fresh with Rotten Tomatoes is the latest one, which holds 81% approval on the Tomatometer there. The first film, then, is the only one other than that which received the 50% critics' approval.

The 2010 film remains the worst in this matter, as it has just 9% critics' approval. It is the only one that garnered a single figure. The 2007 and 2008 films weren't too great a critical success either, as they currently hold 18% and 13% approval as of this writing.

The rest of the films had a range between only 29% and 37% approval.

How does the franchise stand with other series in the horror genre?

The horror genre doesn't have that many big commercial successes like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, or Pokémon, but it still has managed to garner some decent amounts throughout the years. That said, the highest-grossing horror franchise to date is The Conjuring Universe, which has made $2.2 billion at the global box office.

Alien follows it, which has made $1.9 billion, and includes a couple of crossovers with Predator movies. Predator itself is on the list, but it's the 14th highest-grossing horror franchise as of this writing. After Alien, Resident Evil, and It follows, with $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively.

If we take a look at the highest-grossing horror film of all time, it would be It, which collected $704 million at the global box office.