2020 will be the year of established horror franchises getting fresh makeovers. Between HALLOWEEN KILLS, CANDYMAN, A QUIET PLACE 2 and THE CONJURING 3 I’m going to have to either renew my AMC Stubs card or start taking advantage of $5 Tuesdays. In a major sign of studio confidence Lionsgate has moved up the release date for its major horror sequel, the untitled SAW reboot/spinoff. The release date was previously slated for October 23rd, 2020 but has been moved to May 15th. Samuel L. Jackson (!) will star along with Chris Rock, Marisol Nichols, and Max Minghella. I wonder if the story would include Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw character. The story which was also pitched by Rock and scripted by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, will be directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who also directed SAW 2-4.

While the plot hasn’t been officially revealed, according to Deadline Rock will play a police detective investigating a series of grizzly crimes and Jackson portrays Rock’s father. Minghella is William Schenk, Rock’s partner, and Nichols is Capt. Angie Garza, Rock’s boss. Jackson will play Rock’s father.

Historically, the SAW movies were always released in October. In fact, the phrase “If it’s Halloween, it must be SAW” was used in several of the sequels trailers. Perhaps with the announcement of HALLOWEEN KILLS coming out in October 2020, Lionsgate wanted to avoid the competition. However moving the release up to May seems a bit odd. Perhaps the studio wants to make SAW a late spring movie-going tradition. Not a bad idea. SAW could be synonymous with the beginning of the summer season. Are you excited for this SAW reboot? Let me know in the comments.