September 24, 2005

Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, Secaucus, NJ, September 24th, 2005 at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands

The final panel of Day One was with the duo behind last year’s surprise hit Saw. Director James Wan and actor / writer Leigh Whannell stopped by to preview this Halloween’s Saw II. They showed a gruesome clip from the film and praised it’s director Darren Lynn Bousman. They knew after the success of the first film, that the studios were going to make a sequel with or without them, so they opted to take part in the sequels production as much as possible. When asked if the new film will have a surprise twist ending like the first, Leigh commented, “We both feel you’ll all be very satisfied with both the film itself and the ending.”

Leigh also mentioned how cool it is to see action figures of Jigsaw and his puppet at a recent trade show. “Once they make a figure of me, I’m done. I can retire and you’ll never hear from me again!,” he laughed.

James talked a bit about the new version of Saw titled Saw: Rebirth which hits DVD in October. “It’s a slightly different cut. I was in Australia when they cut the theatrical version together, so there’s a few things I wouldn’t have done. I’ve gone back and changed a few things. Added back the gore, which I’m surprised was removed in the first place. And I was unhappy with the color on the original DVD release, so I went back and color corrected the entire thing.”

After their panel, James and Leigh were more then happy to stick around and sign promotional posters for fans. The Fango crowd really seemed to get a kick out of this joking twosome! They sold the whole room on Saw II. Saw II will feature Donnie Wahlberg along with returning cast members Dina Meyer, Shawnee Smith, and Tobin Bell and features a script co-written by SAW creator Leigh Whannell and director Darren Lynn Bousman.

*All photos by Robert V. Galluzzo and property of Icons Of Fright.com