The failed soft reboot of a billion-dollar saga cuts it short when it comes to streaming

via Liongate

Despite the enduring popularity and virtually guaranteed box-office success that the genre has enjoyed steadily for decades, the number of horror franchises that have broken the cumulative billion-dollar box office mark is surprisingly small, but Spiral: From the Book of the Saw helped drive the fall-happy horrors into the rare club.

The only other spooky sagas to have totaled 10 numbers or more in ticket sales are The Conjuring Universe, the long-running hit extraterrestrial Series, Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich’s six films act as stewards of resident Eviland Andy Mussettis It Duology, so it’s definitely rarefied air.

While SpiralThe tepid run in theaters, which grossed just over $40 million, can be attributed in part to the pandemic. It shouldn’t be overlooked that reviews were scathingly disappointing for a soft reboot that saw Chris Rock play a central role as star and producer, with Samuel L. Jackson stopping by to provide support.

Immediately afterwards, the creative team claimed that Spiral was more than able to exist on its own with no apparent ties to Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw, and a sequel was actively in the works. However, when the next chapter was confirmed…it was a direct continuation of the original myth that brought back Tobin Bell’s jigsaw, Rendering The book of the saw outdated.

On the plus side, blood-soaked escapades are always the order of the day when it comes to streaming, so the reinvention, which was immediately scrapped in favor of returning to the fountain, made its mark this weekend, at least, with the naming of FlixPatrol on-demand Spiral as one of the top 10 most watched titles on Hulu.