Saw X | 9/29/23

[TheDude391]

Really good! Top 3 Saw film next to 6 and 1 for sure. Felt like a proper Saw film again (which Jigsaw and Spiral lacked) but was also entirely different than any other entry. Much more of a character drama but it doesn't skimp on the traps either so don't worry about this being "elevated Saw".

 

I'd say this is newcomer friendly and fairly standalone but I would recommend watching 1 and 2 at least beforehand.

 

Also STAY for the credits! 

Edited September 29, 2023 by TheDude391

[Krissykins]

Yeh the most recent $1.6m preview estimate is a shame. That could indicate low to mid teens. Hopefully walk ups are terrific. 

[Lucas]

Going back to check the next day and nothing has moved except a dozen or so more reviews being added, what in the world is going on lol. Certified fresh looking more and more likely, that average rating is stupidly solid for this.

 

EDIT: Incidentally now it has passed Saw 2's total amount of fresh reviews and it's racing to catch Spiral and the og lol.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Lucas

[TomThomas]

85% now.

[CJohn]

This is the biggest RT score twist of the year.

[Blaze Heatnix]

I expect double digits for Saw X for its opening weekened. It's a movie with a 13 million budget ( not high ) and it's getting good reviews. 

 

People shouldn't be in panic just because a 10th movie of a franchise doesn't make 20-30 million for opening weekend. Legs are probably gonna be better. Just relax.

[eman92]

Opened to 2.0M in previews which isn't the worst. I was hoping for 2.5-3M earlier in the week, but I think this is a good sign since things were trending towards 1.6-1.8M in previews yesterday. Maybe this means the reviews helped boost walk ups and it can have a stronger Friday and Saturday? I'm hoping at the very least this means 20M OW for Saw X. If somehow it can have a really strong Friday/Saturday maybe it can do 22-24M???? I think if it does in that range, then this can be seen as a success for Lionsgate.

 

Either way the movie will be financially a success, but I'd really like for it to make enough money for Lionsgate to feel happy with the performance. 

 

https://deadline.com/2023/09/box-office-the-creator-saw-x-paw-patrol-the-might-movie-1235559753/

[SpiderByte]

I mean Saw isn't exactly the world's most expensive franchise. Making large amounts of profit on relatively smaller numbers is why there are ten of them

[Dominic Draper]

20 hours ago, SchumacherFTW said:

Saw 6 was definitely a flop, opening to less than half of your proceeding chapter and not hitting a 2x is very very bad. Which is a shame as its great. 

Disappointing sure,missing expectations sure.  A Flop? Not at all. You can't call movies that made 6× their budget a flop. Flops lose money. This did not. Any movie making that much money on that budget would never be called a flop.

 

20 hours ago, Lucas said:

6 did badly enough that Lionsgate panicked and scrapped movie 8 and all the ideas intended for it got shoved into 7 which would not end the series.

Sure, it was a prudent move to make as they assumed the franchise was pointing downwards and needed to wrap it up, so speed up the end and minimize any potential future losses.

[TheDude391]

8 minutes ago, Dominic Draper said:

Disappointing sure,missing expectations sure.  A Flop? Not at all. You can't call movies that made 6× their budget a flop. Flops lose money. This did not. Any movie making that much money on that budget would never be called a flop.

 

Sure, it was a prudent move to make as they assumed the franchise was pointing downwards and needed to wrap it up, so speed up the end and minimize any potential future losses.

And yet 7 still has a cliffhanger set up for a potential 8th while also torpedoing the series' goodwill with fans lol

[Dominic Draper]

5 minutes ago, TheDude391 said:

And yet 7 still has a cliffhanger set up for a potential 8th while also torpedoing the series' goodwill with fans lol

Yeah 7 is the worst for me. No doubt it.

[Lucas]

After my rewatch of the whole series, 7 is unquestionably still the worst one.

[Firepower]

86%

[Krissykins]

I’d argue 5 is the worst. 4 is terrible too. 

[eman92]

My rankings after seeing Saw X:

Saw

Saw II

Saw X

Saw III

Saw VI

Saw IV

Saw V

Jigsaw

Spiral

Saw 3D

 

I'm still on the fence if Saw X lands before Saw III or after. And as a reference, I've enjoyed all the Saw movies through Jigsaw. Spiral I thought was fine, and Saw 3D I absolutely hated. Saw V and Jigsaw I enjoy but are nothing special. The rest I really enjoy.

[Lucas]

On 9/28/2023 at 3:02 PM, Lucas said:

Yeah with 21 reviews and an equally strong Top Critics % and avg this is probably gonna survive as fresh.

71 reviews in and it hasn't moved at all since the start, this is now turning out to be one of the most stable RT runs in a while. If anything it's only gotten stronger since the average rating began at a 6.5.

[Blaze Heatnix]

A possible fresh tomatometer on RT ( the first for a Saw movie ) and double digits for opening weekend will probably make Lionsgate happy enough.

 

Saw VI was good, but it paid for Saw 4/5 sins. Saw X is amazing, but it might end up paying for Saw 3D / Jigsaw / Spiral sins. A sequel needs to keep the quality in check and be as good as X.

[Lucas]

1 minute ago, Blaze Heatnix said:

A sequel needs to keep the quality in check and be as good as X.

We can all ride high on the critical success of this one but it seems nearly impossible that lightning can strike twice with this. XI would really need something special to standout like this has done.

[eman92]

1 minute ago, Lucas said:

We can all ride high on the critical success of this one but it seems nearly impossible that lightning can strike twice with this. XI would really need something special to standout like this has done.

I think its possible if they get Kevin Greutert back. I don't think it would be as highly reviewed, but I could see a fresh Saw movie happening again if all the same people were involved. A huge thing that happened with this movie was that Lionsgate did not meddle in the creative. They had a rule previously that no Saw movie could be longer than 95 minutes after Saw III, they also made extremely questionable decisions in general outside of just the runtime control. They tried to force Kevin Greutert to end Saw VI right when William opens the door, because they wanted to end the movie on a cliffhanger. Kevin had to fight with them to get the whole ending actually in. 

 

So we get an actually critically acclaimed Saw movie when the first time since Saw III, Lionsgate backed off and let the creators/directors and writers do their own thing without their pocking and prodding. The director has said as much on reddit that Lionsgate literally gave him full reigns to do whatever he wanted. That is why this movie is so long, whereas before Lionsgate would have never allowed a almost 2 hour long Saw movie. Saw III they gave full control to Leigh Whannel and James Wan because it was their baby, but after that Lionsgate took full control over the franchise.

[Lucas]

3 minutes ago, eman92 said:

I think its possible if they get Kevin Greutert back. I don't think it would be as highly reviewed, but I could see a fresh Saw movie happening again if all the same people were involved. A huge thing that happened with this movie was that Lionsgate did not meddle in the creative. They had a rule previously that no Saw movie could be longer than 95 minutes after Saw III, they also made extremely questionable decisions in general outside of just the runtime control. They tried to force Kevin Greutert to end Saw VI right when William opens the door, because they wanted to end the movie on a cliffhanger. Kevin had to fight with them to get the whole ending actually in. 

 

So we get an actually critically acclaimed Saw movie when the first time since Saw III, Lionsgate backed off and let the creators/directors and writers do their own thing without their pocking and prodding. The director has said as much on reddit that Lionsgate literally gave him full reigns to do whatever he wanted. That is why this movie is so long, whereas before Lionsgate would have never allowed a almost 2 hour long Saw movie. Saw III they gave full control to Leigh Whannel and James Wan because it was their baby, but after that Lionsgate took full control over the franchise.

I agree with you, but this one also has a very specific hook that's perfect both for this specific time and for this franchise in general. The next one will risk just feeling like "here's another one". I liked Halloween Kills but the critical reaction to that is what XI could likely receive unless they truly find a special thematically rich and new idea that's still not pushing it too far.