With an estimated $16.25 million, Lionsgate’s Jigsaw (read our review) brought the Saw franchise back to the big screen after a seven-year hiatus and delivered the seventh best opening of the franchise’s eight films, reports Box Office Mojo. Only 2009’s Saw VI debuted lower, but that isn’t to say this is a terrible opening, explains the site. Given the film’s reasonable, $10 million budget, this opening just shows this franchise isn’t delivering the same kind of numbers it did in the early aughts.

The first Saw not only introduced the world to James Wan, but debuted with $18.2 million domestically and delivered over $103 million worldwide, leading to a franchise that will top $900 million globally by tomorrow.

That being said, Jigsaw‘s staying power within the current marketplace will be tested next weekend as it would be relatively safe to expect a 60%+ drop next weekend and perhaps a less than 2x multiplier for the film’s domestic run. Opening day audiences gave the film a “B” CinemaScore, which is mostly on par for the franchise, and of that audience 51% were female and 52% were under the age of 25.

Internationally, Jigsaw opened in 46 markets with an estimated $9.5 million. Of those 46, only three were major markets with the UK leading the way with an estimated $2.3 million for a second place finish along with a $1.7 million debut in Russia and $1.4 million opening in Germany. The film will debut in Italy, France, Belgium, Australia and South Korea this coming week.

With a total of $25M worldwide after week one, a $50M life isn’t out of the question, which would make this highly profitable for Lionsgate even if it’s not the same behemoth as it used to be.  Fingers crossed it’s enough to get a ninth game off the ground because this writer is still a fan.

What did you think of Jigsaw?