Now a global hit maker! This is how James Wan's breakthrough film ``Saw'' was born!

The aftermath and director Wang's emotional evolution

Saw, which was shot over a hectic 18-day schedule in the fall of 2003, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January of the following year, where it garnered a huge response. Lionsgate, which held the distribution rights in North America, had initially planned to release it straight to video, but decided to release it in theaters during the Halloween season that year. Thus, Saw was released in the US on Halloween weekend, and in just three days, it earned 12 times its production cost. Of course, it was a huge hit around the world. It was also a big hit in Japan, where the term "solid situation thriller," which was used as a promotional slogan, has now become established as the genre name for survival thrillers set in a confined space.

As you know, Saw was made into a series and became even more well-known. Whannell co-wrote the first three films, but Wan, who wanted to do other films, basically only lent his name to executive producer. The Saw series has become more shocking with each installment in the series, and has sometimes been criticized as "torture porn." For this reason, the first Saw film is often seen in that light, but the amount of gore is much more subdued than in the later series. Wan's goal was to create an emotional drama, not just violence.

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In "Saw," Gordon takes a life-risking action to save his wife and child, but such family ties can also be seen in " Death Sentence " (2007), the " Insidious " (2010) series, and the " Conjuring " (2013) series. It was inevitable that Wan directed " Fast & Furious" (2015), which continues to expand the "family" of characters, and there was also a family drama at the heart of " Aquaman ." And in this film, he welcomed Whannell, who he could call his brother in filmmaking, as an actor for the first time in a long time.

Text: Manabu Soma

After working as an information magazine editor, became a freelance writer. He writes articles and reviews for magazines such as ``SCREEN,'' ``DVD & Video Distribution,'' and ``Cinema Square,'' as well as theater pamphlets and the movie site ``Cinema Today.'' Currently appearing on Star Channel "GO! Theater". I host club events as a hobby.

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