Film Grad Darren Bousman Grabs the Saw
Darren Lynn Bousman
A Twisted Tale
By Michael Ferraro
Last Halloween, many horror fans rejoiced when a little independent film called Saw, cut its way into cinema houses everywhere. Despite its flaws, the film revitalized an otherwise dead genre by giving audiences a unique story, gruesome images, lots of shocks, and an adult cast which proved that audiences don’t need teen stars to carry a movie. Budgeted at just under $2 million, the film pulled in about $55 million in box office revenues alone. Just a few days after the films opening, Lions Gate immediately green-lit the inevitable sequel.
Who would step in to direct this sequel though? James Wan, the director of Saw, had already begun work on another feature film, entitled Silence, so his hands were tied. It was around this time that Full Sail alumni Darren Lynn Bousman (Film Production Grad, 2001), was shopping around his feature-length script called The Desperate. None of the studios cared to gamble with his script, so he decided to go the true independent route and make the film on his own.
“I was meeting with cinematographers and in walked David Armstrong,” Bousman says. Armstrong was the cinematographer on Saw and he was deeply embedded with the production company, Twisted Pictures, that financed that film. “David asked if he could show [the script] to a producer he knew at Twisted Pictures. I, of course, agreed.” Ten hours later, Darren received a phone call from producer Gregg Hoffman, telling him how much he enjoyed the screenplay, and wondering if he’d be willing to turn it into the next Saw film.
The minute this decision was made public, Bousman knew he’d have a tough task of appeasing the expectations of the fans. Any director stepping into a high-profile franchise such as this will no doubt worry about what fans might think of a stranger stepping in, especially when it’s a first-time director. “Coming into a high-profile project as a first-time director was scary at first. I think the biggest problem that surrounded Saw II was living up to the hype.”
Darren feels pretty confident about not disappointing anyone with this film. He claims you should expect, “Everything you saw in the first film times 10! A lot more blood, a lot more violence, and a lot more of our favorite serial killer, Jigsaw.”
He also wanted to give fans something new to separate his film from the first. “Saw II delves much deeper into the life and madness of Jigsaw,” explained Bousman. “What made him become who he is now – what makes him tick?”
Saw II opened in theaters this past weekend – perfect timing for Halloween – and there is no doubt that it will be a success. Darren Lynn Bousman is the first Full Sail graduate to co-write and direct a major Hollywood feature. It is especially gratifying since it is part of a franchise with an already solid reputation. This project will definitely be a great start for Darren’s filmmaking career, but would he want to make another Saw, should the studio want him to? He laughs and says, “I am far too superstitious to answer this…”
You can visit the film’s official website at: http:www.saw2.com
Michael Ferraro is a Full Sail Film grad and a regular contributor on Filmthreat.com
Darren Lynn Bousman
A Twisted Tale
By Michael Ferraro
Last Halloween, many horror fans rejoiced when a little independent film called Saw, cut its way into cinema houses everywhere. Despite its flaws, the film revitalized an otherwise dead genre by giving audiences a unique story, gruesome images, lots of shocks, and an adult cast which proved that audiences don’t need teen stars to carry a movie. Budgeted at just under $2 million, the film pulled in about $55 million in box office revenues alone. Just a few days after the films opening, Lions Gate immediately green-lit the inevitable sequel.
Who would step in to direct this sequel though? James Wan, the director of Saw, had already begun work on another feature film, entitled Silence, so his hands were tied. It was around this time that Full Sail alumni Darren Lynn Bousman (Film Production Grad, 2001), was shopping around his feature-length script called The Desperate. None of the studios cared to gamble with his script, so he decided to go the true independent route and make the film on his own.
“I was meeting with cinematographers and in walked David Armstrong,” Bousman says. Armstrong was the cinematographer on Saw and he was deeply embedded with the production company, Twisted Pictures, that financed that film. “David asked if he could show [the script] to a producer he knew at Twisted Pictures. I, of course, agreed.” Ten hours later, Darren received a phone call from producer Gregg Hoffman, telling him how much he enjoyed the screenplay, and wondering if he’d be willing to turn it into the next Saw film.
The minute this decision was made public, Bousman knew he’d have a tough task of appeasing the expectations of the fans. Any director stepping into a high-profile franchise such as this will no doubt worry about what fans might think of a stranger stepping in, especially when it’s a first-time director. “Coming into a high-profile project as a first-time director was scary at first. I think the biggest problem that surrounded Saw II was living up to the hype.”
Darren feels pretty confident about not disappointing anyone with this film. He claims you should expect, “Everything you saw in the first film times 10! A lot more blood, a lot more violence, and a lot more of our favorite serial killer, Jigsaw.”
He also wanted to give fans something new to separate his film from the first. “Saw II delves much deeper into the life and madness of Jigsaw,” explained Bousman. “What made him become who he is now – what makes him tick?”
Saw II opened in theaters this past weekend – perfect timing for Halloween – and there is no doubt that it will be a success. Darren Lynn Bousman is the first Full Sail graduate to co-write and direct a major Hollywood feature. It is especially gratifying since it is part of a franchise with an already solid reputation. This project will definitely be a great start for Darren’s filmmaking career, but would he want to make another Saw, should the studio want him to? He laughs and says, “I am far too superstitious to answer this…”
You can visit the film’s official website at: http:www.saw2.com
Michael Ferraro is a Full Sail Film grad and a regular contributor on Filmthreat.com
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