I just wanted to drop a quick note here from SXSW to update you guys on a few projects from writer/actor Leigh Whannell. But first – I want to tell you a bit about The Mule. It’s a film that Whannell co-wrote with Angus Sampson (you may remember him as Tucker from Insidious), who co-directed the piece with Tony Mahoney. Whannell and Sampson also star in the film, and their performances are both quite strong (and tonally miles away from their work in the Insidious franchise).

I’ll have a full review of the film up later this week (as well as the full interview from which these quotes were pulled). While the film about a reluctant drug mule isn’t horror – it most certainly requires a strong stomach. It’s funny, disgusting, violent and surprisingly poignant. It goes a lot deeper than you might expect.

So the deal here is… you guys are only allowed to read this update below if you promise to come back later for the full interview about The Mule (and read my review). Got it? It’s tit for tat don’t let me down guys.

What can you tell us about Insidious 3? Jason Blum said the script was done. “What did he tell you?”

He doesn’t say much!”I can say that it’s not dealing with Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson’s characters anymore. We thought it would be best to wipe the slate clean and tell a new story. But Lin Shaye will be back and we will be back. It actually felt a lot like writing the first one because you’re dealing with new characters. You don’t have to follow the throughline of the others, it’s a fresh start. It doesn’t follow the ending of the second one.”

And then – “You want to know about ‘Saw 8‘! I’ve seen a lot of tweets about it. But I haven’t heard anything more about it yet. I don’t think they’re about to go into production on it quite yet, Lionsgate would let me know.”

There you have it. Saw 8 (which we reported on last year) doesn’t seem to be off the table in any way, but I wouldn’t expect it anytime this year.