Chris Rock conceptualized, is producing, and is starring in the ninth Saw movie, which just began production. And guess who was just cast to play his father? That’s right, the baddest MFer on the planet, Samuel L. Jackson.
Lionsgate confirms that Jackson has joined Rock as well as actors Max Minghella () in the film, which is being directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III, IV).
Rock plays a police detective “investigating a series of grisly crimes.” Jackson is his father, Minghella is his partner, and Nichols is his boss.
How those crimes line up with the crimes of the previous eight Saw films, we do not yet know. But the initial news said that the film, which was conceived by Rock, “reimagines and spins-off the world of the notorious Jigsaw Killer.” So maybe it’s a copycat? Maybe it’s yet another parallel story? A futuristic sequel? At this point, it’s all just wild speculation and could be anything.
“We think Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Rock along with Max Minghella and Marisol Nichols make this film completely special in the Saw canon,” Joe Drake, chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a press release. “We can’t wait to unleash this unexpected and sinister new story on fans of this franchise. This is next level of Saw on full tilt.”
That’ll happen in late 2020, when the untitled ninth Saw movie hits theatres.