Five directors have worked on the series: James Wan, Darren Lynn Bousman, David Hackl, Kevin Greutert and The Spierig Brothers, while Whannell, Bousman, Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan, Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger penned the scripts for separate films in the series. The first of many sequels was immediately green-lit after the film's immensely successful opening weekend. The film was released theatrically that October, by Lionsgate. Their pitch was ultimately successful, and, in 2004, the first installment debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, Wan and Whannell made a short film to help pitch a potential feature film concept. Despite the fact that Kramer was murdered in Saw III, the films continue to focus on the posthumous influence of the Jigsaw Killer and his apprentices by exploring his character via flashbacks. Rather than killing his victims outright, Kramer traps them in situations that he calls 'tests' or 'games' to test their will to live through physical or psychological torture and believes that if they survive, they will be 'rehabilitated'. He was introduced briefly in Saw and developed in more detail in Saw II and the subsequent films. The first eight films primarily revolve around the fictional serial killer John Kramer, also called the 'Jigsaw Killer' or simply 'Jigsaw'. It consists of nine feature films and additional media. Saw is an American horror franchise created by Australian film makers James Wan and Leigh Whannell.

New saw movie