Top 10 Interesting Saw Movie Facts

Facts about the Saw horror franchise. If I forgot any, feel free to add them.

The Top Ten

The original plot of Saw III would've involved Lawrence Gordon being tested again, but Cary Elwes' lawsuit against Lionsgate halted this

Leigh Whannell's original concept pitch for Saw III involved Lawrence Gordon being tested again to save his family from immense peril. However, due to Cary Elwes suing Lionsgate over the low payment he received from Saw 1, this didn't happen. The lawsuit wouldn't be resolved until 2009. Cary Elwes would wind up returning in Saw 3D/The Final Chapter, though, which is arguably one of the worst movies in the entire series, but I digress. Actually, maybe Spiral's slightly worse, but still. Due to those changes, Jeff Denlon was created, and the script was heavily altered.
Peter Strahm was originally going to kill Mark Hoffman in Saw VI, but this was scrapped instantly

Peter Strahm, who ends up dying quite spectacularly in Saw V, was originally supposed to kill Hoffman at the end of Saw VI. Not much else is known as far as I know regarding this concept, but considering how heavily rushed the sequels were, with them coming out once a year after a while, I'm not surprised if this idea was cut due to time constraints or other factors.
Saw 3D/The Final Chapter was originally supposed to be two movies, one exploring the Lawrence twist, and the other exploring Bobby Dagen. However, Lionsgate forced the writers and director Kevin Greutert to combine them both into one movie

This probably explains the bizarre pacing throughout Saw 3D as a whole. I'm not sure why they decided to force Kevin Greutert and the writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan to combine these two ideas into one movie, but it severely hindered Saw 3D as a whole and made for a worse movie because of it. Don't get me started on the pink blood either, or the weirdly misogynistic tone Saw 3D has compared to other entries in the series.
Saw III was originally supposed to be the last movie

Leigh Whannell envisioned the Saw series as a trilogy, and combining that with running out of ideas for the traps, it's not surprising that Saw III would be the last movie to have his involvement. This also explains why Detective Kerry, Amanda Young, and John Kramer all die in this movie. He thought that after III, the series would be over, yet Lionsgate already wanted another sequel to keep the gravy train rolling.
Kevin Greutert didn't want to direct Saw 3D/The Final Chapter, instead, he wanted to direct Paranormal Activity 2, yet due to a contractual obligation with Lionsgate couldn't do so

Which, honestly, seems like it might've been a better investment for him. I liked his direction with VI, but you can tell that he was NOT interested in 3D/The Final Chapter whatsoever, and considering how terrible the script for that movie is and the weird writing choices galore, I can't say that I blame him whatsoever.
Lionsgate severely toned down the violence for Spiral: From the Book of Saw compared to other entries

I'm guessing because it had Samuel L. Jackson involved, and Chris Rock? I'm not sure, but regardless, it's fairly noticeable, and that movie has questionable pacing galore and is hands down one of my least favorite horror movies of all time. Samuel L. Jackson carries the movie undoubtedly, but the toned-down violence gives me more of a reason to dislike it.
To help get the original Saw (2004) movie greenlit, Leigh Whannell released a 2003 short film called Saw, which had a different character. Lionsgate was impressed by the short and gave Whannell a bigger budget to bring his vision to life

I'm pretty sure you can find the 2003 short film on YouTube, and if I'm not mistaken, it might also be an additional feature on the DVD menu of the 2004 film, but if I'm wrong with that second example, I'll take the L there. It's pretty interesting how similar yet drastically different both versions are, despite the core idea remaining the same.
Although Leigh Whannell wasn't involved in the mainline Saw movie franchise after Saw III, he did write the story for the 2009 Saw video game

This is the only writing contribution Whannell has made to the series after Saw III, although with Blumhouse now acquiring the series, he can probably do whatever he wants with the franchise now. The game's storyline centers on David Tapp after he somehow survived getting his throat slit at the end of Saw, where he gets tested rigorously and has to fight for his survival. The game received mixed reviews, kinda like the movies, but to be fair, the combat in this game is pretty terrible, and the camera angles are all over the place.
There is a bonus feature on the Saw II DVD called the Scott Tibbs documentary, which focuses on Adam's friend who's briefly mentioned in the first movie. He ends up getting tested at the end, and it is widely considered to be non-canon by fans.

This short movie, or whatever you want to call it, mostly focuses on Scott Tibbs annoying and harassing people, including Amanda Young and Daniel Matthews, for seemingly no reason. It's pretty boring, and the guy playing him, I guess, does have a solid enough job at making the character extremely unlikable.
In Saw III, there are two deleted scenes involving Adam. One which consisted of him meeting Amanda for the first time, and the other being a nightmare Amanda has of him. The second one leads to his death scene.

The Newcomers

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Leigh Whannell has openly expressed dislike for the direction the later Saw movies went down. He expressed bewilderment when fans asked him about characters like Mark Hoffman that he didn't write, but he doesn't want to take away from fans' enjoyment.
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Leigh Whannell has openly admitted that his acting performance as Adam in Saw isn't the best. He feels that his other performances over the years are significantly better, and if he could, he'd do certain parts differently now.

The Contenders

Spiral: From the Book of Saw is the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise earning a grand total of 40.6 million dollars worldwide at the box-office
Shawnee Smith was pregnant during the production of Saw II
Saw X was written before Spiral: From the Book of Saw, but was temporarily put on pause for Spiral to start production
Saw III is the highest-grossing movie of the entire franchise, earning 164.9 million dollars worldwide
For the bathroom flashback scenes in Saw III, production reused the set from Scary Movie 4 to save on costs and manage the budget
The Collector (2009) was originally envisioned as a prequel to Saw, as an origin story for John Kramer, even featuring the same writers, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. However, Lionsgate vetoed this instantly.
In the director's cut of Saw III, there is a fight scene between Amanda Young and Lynn Denlon. This fight scene is completely absent in the theatrical cut and the unrated cut.
Devon Bostick, who plays Brent in Saw VI, originally had a role in Saw IV that was scrapped due to schedule conflicts. Bostick was ultimately relieved by this decision and enjoyed having a larger role in VI.
Erik Knudsen, who plays Daniel Matthews in Saw II, was originally supposed to reprise his role for Saw 3D/The Final Chapter during the Jigsaw survivors meetup scene, but due to scheduling conflicts, this didn't happen.
Chester Bennington's character in Saw 3D/The Final Chapter, Evan, was originally supposed to survive his trap. However, due to Bennington's busy schedule, it was changed to a death scene instead.
In an earlier version of Saw IV, Daniel Rigg was originally going to pass his final test, overcoming his character flaw of being impatient and surviving. This was likely changed due to time constraints or other variables.
In one of Leigh Whannell's other movies, Dead Silence, there is another puppet named Billy. In addition to this, the Saw Billy puppet can be briefly seen in one of the later scenes in the movie.
Leigh Whannell was reluctant to write Saw III due to him feeling burned out with the franchise, and his involvement with Dead Silence. The passing of Greg Hoffman made him reconsider. Greg Hoffman would go on to be posthumously credited in the series.
Leigh Whannell had planned on killing off Jigsaw as early as Saw II. However, the producers weren't on board with that and pushed back. Whannell has also admitted to regretting killing him off in Saw III.
Saw XI was cancelled due to producer conflicts with Lionsgate. It was going to have the same writers from Saw IV - Saw: The Final Chapter, Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. Not much is known about the plot, and it was in pre-production.

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Top 10 Interesting Saw Movie Facts

The original plot of Saw III would've involved Lawrence Gordon being tested again, but Cary Elwes' lawsuit against Lionsgate halted this

Peter Strahm was originally going to kill Mark Hoffman in Saw VI, but this was scrapped instantly

Saw 3D/The Final Chapter was originally supposed to be two movies, one exploring the Lawrence twist, and the other exploring Bobby Dagen. However, Lionsgate forced the writers and director Kevin Greutert to combine them both into one movie

Saw III was originally supposed to be the last movie

Kevin Greutert didn't want to direct Saw 3D/The Final Chapter, instead, he wanted to direct Paranormal Activity 2, yet due to a contractual obligation with Lionsgate couldn't do so

Lionsgate severely toned down the violence for Spiral: From the Book of Saw compared to other entries

To help get the original Saw (2004) movie greenlit, Leigh Whannell released a 2003 short film called Saw, which had a different character. Lionsgate was impressed by the short and gave Whannell a bigger budget to bring his vision to life

Although Leigh Whannell wasn't involved in the mainline Saw movie franchise after Saw III, he did write the story for the 2009 Saw video game

There is a bonus feature on the Saw II DVD called the Scott Tibbs documentary, which focuses on Adam's friend who's briefly mentioned in the first movie. He ends up getting tested at the end, and it is widely considered to be non-canon by fans.

In Saw III, there are two deleted scenes involving Adam. One which consisted of him meeting Amanda for the first time, and the other being a nightmare Amanda has of him. The second one leads to his death scene.

Leigh Whannell has openly expressed dislike for the direction the later Saw movies went down. He expressed bewilderment when fans asked him about characters like Mark Hoffman that he didn't write, but he doesn't want to take away from fans' enjoyment.

Leigh Whannell has openly admitted that his acting performance as Adam in Saw isn't the best. He feels that his other performances over the years are significantly better, and if he could, he'd do certain parts differently now.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw is the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise earning a grand total of 40.6 million dollars worldwide at the box-office

Shawnee Smith was pregnant during the production of Saw II

Saw X was written before Spiral: From the Book of Saw, but was temporarily put on pause for Spiral to start production

Saw III is the highest-grossing movie of the entire franchise, earning 164.9 million dollars worldwide

For the bathroom flashback scenes in Saw III, production reused the set from Scary Movie 4 to save on costs and manage the budget

The Collector (2009) was originally envisioned as a prequel to Saw, as an origin story for John Kramer, even featuring the same writers, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. However, Lionsgate vetoed this instantly.

In the director's cut of Saw III, there is a fight scene between Amanda Young and Lynn Denlon. This fight scene is completely absent in the theatrical cut and the unrated cut.

Devon Bostick, who plays Brent in Saw VI, originally had a role in Saw IV that was scrapped due to schedule conflicts. Bostick was ultimately relieved by this decision and enjoyed having a larger role in VI.

Erik Knudsen, who plays Daniel Matthews in Saw II, was originally supposed to reprise his role for Saw 3D/The Final Chapter during the Jigsaw survivors meetup scene, but due to scheduling conflicts, this didn't happen.

Chester Bennington's character in Saw 3D/The Final Chapter, Evan, was originally supposed to survive his trap. However, due to Bennington's busy schedule, it was changed to a death scene instead.

In an earlier version of Saw IV, Daniel Rigg was originally going to pass his final test, overcoming his character flaw of being impatient and surviving. This was likely changed due to time constraints or other variables.

In one of Leigh Whannell's other movies, Dead Silence, there is another puppet named Billy. In addition to this, the Saw Billy puppet can be briefly seen in one of the later scenes in the movie.

Leigh Whannell was reluctant to write Saw III due to him feeling burned out with the franchise, and his involvement with Dead Silence. The passing of Greg Hoffman made him reconsider. Greg Hoffman would go on to be posthumously credited in the series.

Leigh Whannell had planned on killing off Jigsaw as early as Saw II. However, the producers weren't on board with that and pushed back. Whannell has also admitted to regretting killing him off in Saw III.

Saw XI was cancelled due to producer conflicts with Lionsgate. It was going to have the same writers from Saw IV - Saw: The Final Chapter, Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. Not much is known about the plot, and it was in pre-production.