‘Saw’ Top Grossing Horror Franchise Ever

COMMENTS (15)

• wow… for some reason I assumed it was Friday the 13th or HALLOWEEN that was the highest crossing horror franchise.

  Comment by UGLY PUNK GURL! — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 10:54am PDT  Reply to this post

• No surprise about the SAW franchise.

  Unlike other studios that spend more and more money for their sequels (see the HALLOWEEN and SCREAM movies), Lions Gate actually knows how to keep a lid on costs. They don’t throw money at their actors or directors which is the mistake made by the likes of Dimension.

  Meanwhile, all SAW movies turn a profit of their very first weekend so everything else that comes (box office and DVD) is gravy.

  Comment by Crystal Diane Stevens — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 11:38am PDT  Reply to this post

• The Saw franchise is an impressive business model for such a lame set of films. However, there should be an astrix next to the Gross figures for the fact they are releasing on over 2500 screens with tickets that average over $9 a piece. The horror films of yesteryear were lucky to get a 500 screen release and the average ticket cost $3.50. So the figures from films like Friday the 13th or Halloween are more impressive due to the fact they had longer runs with cheaper tickets. Not to mention that there are 40 million more teenagers today then there was in the 80′s (domestic US).

  Comment by anom — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 12:33pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Mazel tov. Average ticket price in 1978 when “Halloween” was released: $2.34; in 1980 when “Friday 13th” was released: $2.69. Neither film had a negative cost over $500,000 or a P&A budget in excess of $1 million. Lionsgate’s frugal production and skilled marketing are to be applauded, but let’s have a little perspective in touting grosses before we know how the engagements will be settled.

  Comment by Santayana — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 12:37pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Eek, another Lionsgate press release. These are always eyesores. (“…the leading next generation filmed entertainment studio…” wtf?!) Couldn’t they use some of their SAW money to tune these up?

  Comment by Jay — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 12:39pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Oren Koules and Marc Burg are two of the sleazist people in the business. They are unkind, unscroupulous, and untalented, and they lucked in to this franchise because a young man named Greg Hoffman (who has since died) brought it to them. Let’s double check people that Greg’s widow is being fairly compensated for their windfall.

  SLEAZE. And their films lower the standards of the industry.

  Comment by come on — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 4:06pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Well,inflation is a key factor- adjusted grosses would, as others have pointed out, give the edge to older “franchises”. But they’re also using a very selective definition of “horror”- Hannibal Lector has probably drawn in more money… and MY definition is wide enough to include stuff like JURASSIC PARK and other pg-13 “monster movies”, the grosses of which leave these guys in the dark.(And to put it in perspective… FRIDAY THE 13TH was the top grossing “franchise” of the 1980s, mostly because of the same big push openings that SAW has profitted from- but you’d be hard pressed to find any horror fan that holds them in the same regard as, say, THE EVIL DEAD…)

  Comment by cst — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 5:14pm PDT  Reply to this post

• “If it’s Halloween, it must be SAW.”

  Lionsgate should thank critic Brian Orndorf for that great line.

  Comment by Ryan Shepley — Sunday October 26, 2008 @ 6:29pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Kudos to the SAW team for their success for making money even after the 5th series. It shows there are still audiences out there for this kind of films.

  One thing to note though, you need no big names nowadays to open a film and making a profit. See W, Pride & Glory, Body of Lies among others

  Hey, they can always make babies and get the magazines to pay them the millions they need for their homes..LOL

  Comment by Armand — Monday October 27, 2008 @ 4:52am PDT  Reply to this post

• I loved the first Saw movie…after the second one they went down hill. I did see Saw V on opening night and was not impressed one bit. I always go to the Saw films in the theatre but really need to stop.

  please go back to doing what made the Saw films so popular in the first movie….reminds me of M. Night Shamalyan actually….I hope they get better….

  Comment by lindsay — Monday October 27, 2008 @ 9:02am PDT  Reply to this post

• I second “Come On”‘s post…Burg and Koules are horrible assholes, two of the most wretched creeps in a business full of them. Ask anyone who’s ever worked there or done much business with them. They were failed hack producers reduced to sleazebag managers repping the the likes of Farrah Fawcett until Greg (a saint of a guy) brought them the short that was the basis for SAW. Good things happen to bad people.

  Comment by alan x — Monday October 27, 2008 @ 10:46am PDT  Reply to this post

• Yes! Love Saw, I’m so happy for these guys. This is the best horror series ever. No one is superhuman and everyone gets a fair shake. This is the most in depth plot I have ever seen in a horror flick! Too bad a lot of people are too think to get it or appreciate it.

  Cannot wait for saw VI!

  Comment by Katt — Monday October 27, 2008 @ 12:46pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Isn’t that “wonderful” Hoffman guy the same guy that Cary Elwes sued because he didn’t get his promised back-end? I recall Elwes bitching that Monica Potter who had about three scenes as his wife had ended up getting paid more than him even though he was clearly the lead. Then Hoffman died and what happened with Elwes’s case has never been mentioned from what I can recall.

  Nikki? Any goods on that?

  Comment by Egg — Monday October 27, 2008 @ 2:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Anom is right. Adjusted for inflation, SAW is not the king. Sorry Saw lovers.

  Comment by CinefileX — Monday October 27, 2008 @ 5:54pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Also keep in mind though that Saw has only 5 movies that grossed that much. Friday the 13th had 11, and Halloween had 9. So even though ticket prices are a lot higher, it took half as many movies to reach that mark.

  Comment by T.J. — Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 8:02am PDT  Reply to this post