Old school horror fans were very glad, but albeit surprised, when it was announced that another "Saw" movie was going to be released. The producers of the franchise have now released the first official poster for the upcoming eighth installment in the iconic horror movie series ahead of its appearance at this year's San Diego Comic-Con event.

Successful franchise

Due to the success of the original movie, which was released back in 2004, the series spawned six other sequels that were released throughout the following years.

The original movies had relatively low production budgets, but they were still able to reel in massive amounts of box office earnings. The first movie alone was created with only a $1.2 million budget, but it managed to earn over $100 million at the box office.

Unexpected return

The basic premise of the sequels remained relatively the same, although the iconic character Jigsaw, a.k.a. John Kramer no longer appeared in most of them. However, Kramer did appear in some of the movies through various flashback scenes. A lot of fans originally thought that the franchise was finally put to rest with the release of 2010's "Saw 3D," which was incidentally also called "Saw: The Final Chapter" in its home video version.

The horror genre had, of course, waned down during the years, with stragglers such as the "Conjuring" franchise still making a killing in the box office. It understandably came as a shock for fans when it was announced last summer that a new "Saw" movie was going to be released and that it was going to be called "Saw: Legacy."

Development and appearance

Last month, it was officially announced that the upcoming movie was going to be re-tilted and that it was going to be simply called "Jigsaw." The title has generated a lot of confusion as to who will be the new Jigsaw Killer seeing that Kramer was originally killed off in "Saw 3." His apprentices Hoffman and Gordon, played by Costas Mandylor and Cary Elwes respectively, have also been confirmed not to be returning to the series.

The team behind the franchise, including Jigsaw actor Tobin Bell, who will be appearing in the upcoming sequel, have already confirmed that they will be attending the upcoming SDCC event. Bell, along with the film's directors Michael and Peter Spierig, are also confirmed to be attending the Reinventing Horror panel.

"Jigsaw" is scheduled to hit theaters on Oct 27. The movie will be set a decade after the death of Kramer and a new killer has emerged following the same modus operandi of killing his victims.
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