The comedian is teaming up with Lionsgate to take the gory horror series to a ‘really intense’ new place

Chris Rock is set to reboot the $1bn Saw franchise with “a really intense and twisted” new film.

The comedian approached studio Lionsgate with a new concept which will be both a re-imagining and a spinning off for the series, based around Jigsaw, the killer who sets elaborate traps for his victims.

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“This upcoming film will still be as mind-bending and intense as all the previous Saw films,” the Lionsgate motion picture group chairman, Joe Drake, said in a statement. “Chris conceived this idea and it will be completely reverential to the legacy of the material while reinvigorating the brand with his wit, creative vision and passion for this classic horror franchise.”

The Saw franchise began in 2004 and in the following 13 years, made over $1bn at the global box office. The most recent entry, entitled Jigsaw, made over $102m worldwide from a budget of $10m despite mostly negative reviews. The studio also created two Saw attractions at Thorpe Park, a theme park in the UK as well as video games and a comic book.

The screenplay for the upcoming film, set for release at Halloween 2020, is based on a story conceived by Rock but will be written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, who also wrote the script for Jigsaw. Darren Lynn Bousman, who has directed three of the Saw movies, will be back behind the camera.

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

Producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules added: “Chris wants to put his own spin on the Saw franchise in the way Eddie Murphy put a completely fresh perspective on buddy-cop films with 48 Hours. This new Saw is going to be an event film in the making for horror fans.”

Rock was most recently seen in Tyler Perry’s Nobody’s Fool and the Adam Sandler comedy The Week Of. His upcoming slate includes a role in Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches alongside Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, Sally Potter’s Molly with Javier Bardem and Elle Fanning and the lead in the fourth season of Fargo.