"Fuck it,
Let's double down."
So, Saw II opens huge. I am in the middle of a fantasy, my first Hollywood movie opens #1 at the box office.
Lets recap – before SAW II, I was couch surfing and eating ramen noodles for every meal… Now I am a horror director with a movie that made millions. So what’s next? Well, SAW III of course.
Actually, not of course. The decision to do Saw III came after MUCH debate. I had just gone to Vegas and got a black jack. Did I really want to double down? Or, should I just walk away? That was the question…
Part of me wanted to move on and do an original film – the other part of me wanted to go right back, and pick up where I left off with SAW II. So, fuck it… Let’s double down.
In some respects, I was more nervous going into SAW III than I was SAW II. I had a lot more riding on the film’s success. I felt that I was being watched under a microscope by a lot of people…
Can lightning strike twice?
SAW III was by far my favorite of the SAW films I directed. While it was probably the goriest, it was also the most emotional. It was also the most collaborative of the three sequels. I worked nightly with Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, and Leigh Whannell, turning what easily could have been "just another horror sequel" into something I was very proud of.
After SAW II, I had no clue how quickly I would be back behind the camera. So obviously the first thing I did was go out and get a puppy… Two days later, I get the call, “Get on a plane, you’re doing SAW III.”
So, off I went… Puppy in hand – I am back off to Toronto.
SAW III was greenlit so quickly after SAW II’s opening – I never really had any time to let anything sink in. I was still in shock, and constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
