Saw III | Saw IV | Saw 3D | Spiral
All spoilers for the final movie will be unmarked ahead. Read on or go back—make your choice.
Concept Art for an early version of the Classroom Trap.
- According to the DVD commentary for Saw 3D, Lawrence Gordon was meant to be the protagonist in this movie, trying to save his wife from Jigsaw and Amanda and eventually killing them. This ended up being Jeff's role in the film itself. It is unknown whether or not Lawrence's actor Cary Elwes was asked to return for the film or if he declined in the aftermath of his lawsuit following the first film.
- Much like the rest of the cast's fates (as James Wan and Leigh Whannell intended this film to be the finale to the series), Eric was meant to die in this film, and a scene showing Amanda stabbing Eric in the throat with a knife was filmed. Eric's death and the scene were cut by Executive Meddling so that they could later use Eric in Saw IV. Keep in mind that Eric's actor Donnie Wahlberg only showed up for Saw III with the promise that Eric would be killed off, so he was pretty pissed off when they cut out this scene. Darren Lynn Bousman had to beg him to come back for Saw IV.
- An idea for the Classroom Trap had Troy suspended above the floor of the classroom by large meat hooks. The producers decided against this, as they figured it would be basically impossible to escape, and that it would be more thrilling if he was standing and able to rip the chains out. A second version had the hooks going through his eyelids, his fingernails, and his teeth.
- The latter version accounts for two of the promotional posters for the film, one showing a mouth missing numerous teeth except a row of three, and another showing three teeth dangling from wires (both cases serving as a stand-in for the "III" in the title).
- The teeth-pulling aspect was later proposed for one of Eric's tests in an earlier script of Saw IV, before being finally recycled for Bobby Dagen's trial in Saw 3D.
- Plenty of Rigg's dialogue at the Classroom Trap's crime scene was intially written for Hoffman.
- According to producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules, they had originally discussed having Kerry placed in a device that would pull her arms and legs in four different directions, but instead decided on the ribcage-based Angel Trap. This idea was later reused for the Bedroom Trap in Saw IV.
- Originally, the victim in the Freezer Room was a male police officer. When the producers later settled with Danica, she was meant to wear a tight T-shirt and panties in the trap. Bousman thought it would be too erotic for her to dress in such clothes and get wet, so they just decided to strip her completely.
- One idea for Halden's trap had him suspended above a meat grinder. As he was lowered down into it, Jeff would have to dive into a "soup" (probably referring to the ground-up pigs that were instead poured onto the Judge) to retrieve the key. It was changed again until it resembled the final version, with the exception that Jeff wouldn't have to burn his son's possessions, but simply step down into the silo to free the judge. Leigh Whannell said on the commentary that one of the reasons for the final change was that merely having Jeff dive into pig guts was more akin to something on Fear Factor, and that by burning his son's possessions, it was more of an emotional conflict for Jeff than a physical one.
- Halden was meant to be totally aware Jigsaw and the kind of setting they're in when Jeff asks him about the whereabouts, claiming that he had seen a file about Jigsaw.
- Timothy Young's trap went through redesigning. The first concept had Timothy strapped down to a table that would fold on its hinges, bending his body with it and breaking his back.note It was remodeled into the shape of a cross that would still bend along hinges, until it was decided to make Timothy's individual limbs be twisted instead.
- At one point in the Rack, Timothy would have accidentally urinated himself out of fear.
- Originally, Lynn's collar was going to be more along the lines of a bomb, hence Jigsaw's line, "an explosion will go off in that collar". The collar would detonate, and the subsequent explosion would have been strong enough to shake the room, throw the dead Jigsaw from his bed, and knock Jeff unconscious.
- Bousman has stated that the film was going to have a scene where John, after seeing the results of his legacy, suffered a Heel Realization:"For the first time, we actually see him break down and cry. Imagine your entire life's work. You're on your deathbed. You know there's nothing else you can do and here's how you'll be remembered: as a killer, as a murderer. Not as someone who helped people. Not as someone who changed lives. Someone who took away lives. The one thing he didn't want to be and, as he's on his deathbed, he's realizing this."
- In a Q&A video, Amanda's actor Shawnee Smith stated that Amanda was supposed to stay alive at the end of the film, but as filming progressed, it was decided to give the film a "Shakespearean Tragedy" ending, in which virtually every major character except Jeff died.
- At one point after the draft of an early script, the executive producers had apparently considered giving John a teenage son who shared his name and was a basketball player via a mention in the dialogue. The mention was never written, but was appointed in a liner note from one of the executives in said script. This is likely what led to the implementation of Gideon in Saw IV.
