Last year came a surprise announcement – not only that the Saw franchise was being revived (once again), but that a new vision for the horror series was being driven by Chris Rock. The star, much more closely associated with comedies than splatfests, had come up with a killer pitch that impressed the execs – coming up with a story that was scripted up by writers Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger. Details for it have been largely under wraps, until now: the first trailer has just arrived, teasing what’s in store from Rock’s reboot.
As revealed by this trailer, the film is titled Spiral (with the clunky adjunct From The Book Of Saw), and stars Rock as a cop on the trail of a serial killer who leaves mysterious spray-painted spirals all over the place. If you were thinking his investigation might set him in the sights of a sadistic death-trap murderer, you’d be right – in a final frame that might have been better left for the film itself, we see Rock chained to the wall by his left arm – with a hacksaw in his right hand. Yikes. Also starring are Samuel L. Jackson, The Handmaid’s Tale star Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols and more. The film is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the filmmaker behind Saw II, III, and IV.
Here's the official synopsis: "A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw. Working in the shadow of an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game."
It remains to be seen how this film connects to the previous Saw movies – with their extensive mythos, array of killers and copycats, and non-linear storytelling. The trailer describes Spiral as a ‘new chapter’, suggesting a possible continuation – but there’s no overt reference to the Jigsaw killer here, so we may be in new-timeline-reboot territory. We’ll find out more when Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (are we really calling it that?) hits UK cinemas from 15 May.