Kevin Greutert, director ofSaw X, confirms that the new installment of the horror saga could have been much longer, even though its runtime is already a record-breaker for the franchise.
After trying to take a different path away from the figure of John Kramer withSpiral,Sawreturns to his roots with a new chapter within the main story.Saw Xtakes place a few weeks after the end of the first film, released in 2004, and before the events of the second installment, which arrived in 2005.
The story once again hasTobin Bell’s Kramer as the main star, who, desperate to get a cured of his illness, travels to Mexico to undergo a miraculous treatment that is also very expensive. However, there he will discover that everything is nothing but a big scam designed to take advantage of the ones in need. So Kramer puts into practice his sadistic and twisted abilities to take revenge on those who took advantage of him, subjecting them to his disturbing games.
One of the differences thatSaw Xhas compared to previous films is its runtime, since the movie’s runtime is a total of 118 minutes, becoming the longest in all the franchise. But, surprisingly, it could have been even longer. In aninterview with The Direct, director Kevin Greutert revealed that there was enough material to make a longer movie:
“Well, believe it or not, the film was a lot longer at first. And this is very new for me because every film I’ve ever directed came in a lot shorter than I wanted it to. So, in the case of this one, we spent so much time writing it and shooting it… the first cut of the film was super long. This film came in longer than I had intended it to, we shot a lot on the set. There were a lot of script pages and just a lot that we wanted to capture. So, I had to trim the film down and take out some scenes and shorten some scenes more than I wanted. So, I’m hoping that even though the film is almost two hours long, it doesn’t feel bloated or that it drags anywhere. You know, because this was sort of the cream of the footage that we shot.”
Related:Saw Sequels Are Being Planned Beyond Saw X, Producers Reveal
Saw X’s Run Time Compared to the Rest of the Saga
As is often the case with the vast majority of horror films,Sawmovies do not usually reach the two hours of runtime, something that in factSaw Xdoes not achieve either despite being very close. The first installment had a total duration of 103 minutes, while the second one reduced it to 93.
The third part, released in 2006, had a runtime of 108 minutes, which made it the longest in the saga untilSaw X. The rest of the movies in the saga, including spin-off movieSpiral: From the Book of Saw, all barely scraped through the 90-minute mark, choosing to keep their focus on a continuous trap-to-trap flow which left little room for story expansion. WithSaw X, it seems like the return to John Kramer’s story has given the script a bit more meat on its bones, compared towhat became dubbed “torture porn"in the previous movies.
Saw Xstars Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach, Renata Vaca, Paulette Hernandez, Octavio Hinojosa, and Joshua Okamoto. The movie will hit theaters on September 29.
