‘Saw’ makers take over Texas Chainsaw Massacre

By Michael Fleming– Variety.com

Twisted Pictures is becoming the house of multiple sharp objects. The makers of the “Saw” series are closing a deal to take over the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise, putting the villains Leatherface and Jigsaw under one roof.

Sources said the producer/financier is in talks to partner in the films with Lionsgate, which has distributed all the pics in the highly profitable “Saw” series, including the Oct. 23 release of “Saw VI.”

The plan is to contemporize the storyline for a 3D film that would be scripted by Stephen Susco (“The Grudge”). Carl Mazzocone, Mark Burg and Oren Koules will be the producers.

The series had been launched at New Line with a remake and a prequel produced by Platinum Dunes, the genre company run by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form.

Deals had been made on a per-pic basis with “Chainsaw” rights-holders Bob Kuhn and Kim Henkel, the latter of whom wrote the original 1974 pic with director Tobe Hooper. Talks fell apart with Platinum Dunes. The Twisted Pictures deal is for multiple films, sources said.

The franchise is bloody big business: The 2003 remake cost $9.5 million and grossed $110 million worldwide. The 2006 prequel didn’t do as well but still grossed $55 million on a $13 million budget.

The Platinum Dunes team, which just made a first-look deal at Paramount, still is aligned with a pair of iconic psycho murderers: After reintroducing Jason Voorhees in 2009′s “Friday the 13th,” they are relaunching Freddy Krueger (played by Jackie Earle Haley) in a new “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

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First image of Saw VI Revealed

From ReelzChannel.com

first image SAW IV

With only a teaser trailer and a poster released for Saw VI, not much has been revealed about the latest sequel in the horror franchise, other than screenwriter Patrick Melton saying the movie will feel “resolved.”

It’s probably safe to assume that death traps are involved, as the first image of Saw VI reveals.

Saw VI opens October 23 and stars Costas Mandylor as Detective Hoffman, who has become the successor to Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and sets a new game in motion as the FBI closes in on him. Shawnee Smith and Tanedra Howard co-star.

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‘Saw’ to scare Universal Studios

By Marc Graser – Variety

Lionsgate has inked a deal with Universal Studios to integrate its “Saw” franchise into the theme park’s annual “Halloween Horror Nights” event.

Pact makes “Saw” the latest horror franchise that wasn’t produced by Universal to be added to the event’s lineup. Last year, it introduced a haunted maze themed around New Line’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” pics and featured “Friday the 13th.”

It also helps kill off competition created by a “Saw” haunted house that had been set up south of Los Angeles in Brea last year and scared visitors away from U’s park in Hollywood. An estimated 20,000 people visited the “Saw” house last year.

Lionsgate had officially backed the house, set in a shuttered movie theater and built by franchise fan Jeff Schiefelbein, with promos and other support to push the fifth installment. Schiefelbein has built more general-themed haunted houses there over the last several years.

Given its success, Lionsgate and “Saw’s” producers at Twisted Pictures had planned on moving the “Saw” house to a larger location closer to L.A. in order to accommodate more visitors this Halloween, but opted to broker the deal with Universal instead.

The theme park should guarantee not only a bigger budget to build the planned horror maze that will promote the sixth film, but also a considerably larger audience, considering the “Saw” attractions will appear at U’s parks in Hollywood and Orlando.

Combined, the parks attract hundreds of thousands of thrill-seekers each year for “Halloween Horror Nights.”

Universal plans to incorporate the “Saw” franchise’s characters and grisly traps in a maze and in the parks’ dedicated “scare zones,” as well as on the “Terror Tram,” a revamped version of its studio tram tour.

“This partnership represents a new landmark for the ‘Saw’ film franchise in that it allows us together with Twisted Pictures to further expand the brand and immerse fans in the horrifying world of ‘Saw,’ ” said Aubrey McClure, senior VP of promotions and licensing for Lionsgate.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s creative department will work with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures to incorporate “Saw” into the parks.