‘Saw’ Filmmaker Darren Lynn Bousman to Direct Psychological Thriller ‘Serpentine’
Darren Lynn Bousman, the filmmaker behind multiple entries in the Saw franchise, is stepping outside traditional horror for his next project.
Bousman has signed on to direct Serpentine, a psychological thriller from Dream State Studios and partner Brand in Entertainment. The project will place the director in a story combining organized crime, corruption, buried secrets and the competitive world of figure skating.
Set in a seemingly quiet New England town, Serpentine centers on a woman attempting to leave a dangerous life behind. Her plans to disappear instead draw her into a network of criminals, corrupt police officers and local power players, each with their own reasons for preventing secrets from the past from resurfacing.
The film was written by Dream State Studios president Valerie Palencar, who said Bousman responded to the project’s combination of character-driven storytelling and tension.
“Darren immediately understood what makes SERPENTINE unusual,” Palencar said in a statement. “This is a story driven by complex characters operating in a world where ambition and loyalty are constantly being tested.”
For Bousman, the project represents an opportunity to work outside the horror genre while retaining some of the tension and darker elements associated with his previous films.
“I’ve wanted for a long time to flex some different muscles outside of the horror genre, and SERPENTINE gives me that opportunity without completely abandoning the things I love,” Bousman told Deadline.
The filmmaker described the project as retaining “dread, fear and a real sense of intensity” while operating within what he characterized as a darkly comedic, Fargo-esque world unlike his previous directorial work.
Serpentine is being produced by Dream State Studios, with Brand in Entertainment CEO Rolfe J. Auerbach serving as executive producer. The production is also using an unconventional financing strategy involving consumer brands brought into the project through Brand in Entertainment.
According to the companies, participating brands will help fund the film, with their products incorporated into the story from the project’s early development stages rather than added through traditional product placement after production is underway.
Auerbach said the companies are positioning Serpentine as a commercially oriented production rather than a conventional independent feature, combining Bousman’s established filmmaking background with the project’s brand-backed financing model.
Bousman is closely associated with the Saw franchise, beginning with his feature directorial debut on Saw II in 2005. He co-wrote that film with Leigh Whannell before returning to direct Saw III and Saw IV.
He later returned to the franchise for the Chris Rock-led Spiral: From the Book of Saw, released in 2021. Outside the series, Bousman’s credits include the cult musical Repo! The Genetic Opera, The Devil’s Carnival, Abattoir and Death of Me.
Serpentine will give the director an opportunity to move further into psychological crime-thriller territory while retaining elements of dread and suspense familiar from his horror work.
Casting, production dates and release plans for Serpentine have not yet been announced.
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