Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Rock to star in new Saw movie

It has been announced that the new movie in the Saw franchise will star Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. Rock will play a police detective investigating a series of grisly crimes and Jackson will portray Rock's father. Also joining the cast will be Max Minghella who will play Rock's parter, William Schenk, and Marisol Nichols, who will play Rock's boss, Capt. Angie Garza. Production has begun on the currently untitled film.

The movie is being described as "a Saw experience" and was developed based on Rock's love of the franchise. The film is being directed by Saw franchise veteran Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg.

"We think Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Rock along with Max Minghella and Marisol Nichols make this film completely special in the Saw canon and we can't wait to unleash this unexpected and sinister new story on fans of this franchise," said Joe Drake, Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, in a statement. "This is next level of Saw on full tilt."

It was announced in May that Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures had partnered with Rock to spin off and expand the world of the Saw franchise, with a new film to be released Oct. 23, 2020.

"I've been a fan of Saw since the first film in 2004," Rock said in a statement. "I am excited by the opportunity to take this to a really intense and twisted new place."

The Saw films starred Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, a demented mastermind who lays deadly traps for his victims. The first film and its seven sequels have collectively earned more than $450 million at the domestic box office, but the most recent installment, 2017's Jigsaw, was among the least successful in the series.

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