Saw VII 3D

I don't care much for Feast and I'm not a fan of the Saw series but writer Patrick Melton and co-writer/director Marcus Dunstan's The Collector is definitely my cup of team and Melton recently spoke with Dread Central about the possibility of a sequel to the home invasion horror flick. He also chatted with Dread about Saw II, 3D technology, the Oscar's awkward nod to horror films and more.

The duo is penning the script for the latest installment in the Saw series (lucky number 7) and director Kevin Greutert is halfway through principal photography after a studio debacle where Lionsgate went head-to-head with Paramount and exercised an option in Greutert's contract to force him off Paranormal Activity 2 and back to the Saw series. Adding insult to injury, this happened literally a few weeks before filming. What kind of film can you expect when the helmer has been unwillingly plopped into a chair just days away from shooting? Melton is keeping the faith:

" ... If anyone can do it, it's Kevin. He's been involved in every single Saw movie, and he directed the last one so he knows the limitations of the crew and the limitations of the resources, and so he's been able to adapt pretty quickly, and it's looking good. Because we are playing with the idea that this may be the last Saw movie and we are trying to wrap things up, it's made it a ton more ambitious."

It's funny how the interweb works--most of the time, we're all on the cutting edge of breaking news, finding out things almost as soon as they occur. Then, there are times like today, where everyone finally discovers a story that should have appeared months ago and we all look at each other and wonder "how did we miss this?"

Writer Patrick Melton sat down for an interview with UK radio station 107.5 Demon FM last November (!) and had a lot to say about Jigsaw's life and times (thanks to Latino Review for sharing). The most interesting quote dealt with a potential end to the long running franchise. Here's what Melton had to say about it:

"I mean, I think it's going to end with Saw VII. I have a very strong feeling its going to end with Saw VII. That's something we're debating now. You saw in previous interviews or discussions where we thought Saw VIII would be the last one where we had the first trilogy and the second trilogy and then sort of a grand finale wrapped up in two films. But frankly because Saw VI hasn't performed as well as we anticipated, the idea is well why make two movies when we can make one really excellent movie that wraps up as best we can? And it's going to be in 3-D which sort of adds to the spectacle. So if you had to ask me, I don't own the franchise, nor do I run the studio, but I have a feeling, a strong feeling that it's going to be Saw VII which will be also known as Endgame. And nothing's official yet, but that's where we're hoping things will go."

Interesting if it actually comes to pass, but I suspect we'll keep getting Saw films for as long as they make money. The glimmer of hope here is that there may in fact be an end in sight.