I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but it's game over for the Saw franchise, at least for now. It has been confirmed that the upcoming Saw XI has officially been stalled and will not be released in the fall as originally scheduled.

However, this delay isn't due to creative issues. “We haven’t heard anything since May,” Saw XI screenwriter Patrick Melton told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s stalled at a managerial level. It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There are higher-level things at play.”

According to the publication, Melton and his writing partner Marcus Dunstan submitted a draft of the script in the spring of 2024, which is approaching a year ago. Melton added, “The reason it’s held up is just, there’s inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can’t quite get on the same page.”

What’s even more disappointing is that the 11th installment was poised to address a timely topic. Though plot details have not been made public for Saw XI, Melton compared the plot of the film to that of Saw VI, which was written by Melton and Dunstan and directed by Greutert. In it, lead John Kramer, aka Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), seeks revenge on a group of health insurance executives.

“Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that,” Melton told THR.

“It taps into the same themes of Saw VI, where you’re a citizen, you feel angry and frustrated with something, you feel like you can’t do anything, and John Kramer’s going to do it.” It would be fascinating to see the Saw franchise explore these themes again and how they might approach them differently, given the current state of the world — but sadly, it seems we may never know.