Why James Wan Wants To Put Distance Between Himself And The Saw Series

At this point, there's no question that Australian writer and director James Wan has made an immense and lasting impact on the horror genre and is one of the most prolific horror filmmakers of his generation. Wan is most well known for co-creating the iconic "Saw" franchise alongside Leigh Whannell, directing the first "Saw" film and acting as an executive producer on its sequel.

Following his work on the "Saw" franchise (which currently includes nine feature films and has grossed more than $1 billion at the box office), Wan directed the horror films "Dead Silence" and "Death Sentence," before striking gold a second time with 2010's "Insidious" — a film which once again spawned a lucrative horror franchise. Three years later, he established another prolific horror franchise with 2013's "The Conjuring," further cementing himself as one of the preeminent filmmakers in that genre.

In the years that followed, Wan would continue his work in the horror genre by producing films like "The Nun," "Annabelle Comes Home," and "Malignant" (the latter of which he also directed) while also expanding his work to action blockbusters like "Furious 7" and "Aquaman." Yet, throughout all this time, Wan has yet to return to the franchise that originally kickstarted his career in the first place and has even expressed a desire to distance himself from his work on "Saw."

In a 2013 interview with The Los Angeles Times, James Wan explained that he would like to distance himself from the "Saw" franchise due to the fact that he was only ever involved with the first and second "Saw" films and had absolutely nothing to do with the later installments in the franchise. "I like to say I just directed the pilot," Wan said. "For better or worse, you get what comes with it. If it weren't for 'Saw,' I wouldn't have a career."

Wan actually expanded upon this desire to put distance between himself and the greater "Saw" franchise in a 2011 interview with The Guardian, in which he discussed the perceived promotion of "torture porn" throughout the later "Saw" films. "People who've seen the original 'Saw' don't usually use that term. They'd maybe use it to describe the sequels and the imitators. I was approached to do the sequel, but I felt that I'd already told the story I wanted to tell."

Wan's comments make it abundantly clear that the writer and director does not want to be associated with the abundance of sequels within the "Saw" franchise, as his work within that franchise came to an end years ago. Even his reference to the 'torture porn' aspect of those later projects further emphasizes the disconnect between the original "Saw" film and its sequels. Although it's unclear exactly how Wan feels about the newer films within the "Saw" franchise, it's certainly understandable why he would want to distance himself from a project that he currently has no involvement with.