An unforgettable new promo video for Saw X debuted Sept. 13, subbing Billy the Puppet for Nicole Kidman in a parody of AMC Theaters' beloved ad. The mechanical puppet even has its own monologue, which sounds strikingly similar to Kidman's, but a whole lot scarier.
Lionsgate Movies released the video today on YouTube, titled "We Come to this Place..." The official Saw account also posted the 59-second clip on X with the caption, "somehow, self-amputation feels good in a place like this," followed by the hashtags #SawX and #SawTenber. The video follows a similar promotional parody video from Sept. 9, featuring the infamous serial killer as the patient in a deadly game of "Saw-peration."
"Whoever is coming up with all this stuff is a genius," one X user commented underneath the Sept. 12 video. "I've never seen a Saw movie get this kind of PR push. I'm thrilled."
Whoever is coming up with all this stuff is a genius. I've never seen a Saw movie get this kind of PR push. I'm thrilled. ??❤️ #SawX
— ? Paul-B Loves Movies ? (@Paul_Berney) September 13, 2023
The new video begins with the wheels of Billy's signature red tricycle splashing through a puddle of blood, where viewers would normally see a low-angled shot of Kidman's heels as she walks in the rain. As its revealed where the puppet is going, the camera cuts to a shot of the entrance to Lionsgate offices instead of the AMC logo.
"We come to this place for reawakening," narrates Jigsaw, played by Tobin Bell. "We come to the theaters to scream, to beg, to play."
"That indescribable feeling we get when the lights—" the monologue continues, before Billy is briefly interrupted by a sudden crash into a wall on his way to find a seat in one of Lionsgate's private screening rooms.
"When the lights flicker on and off and your calls for mercy go unanswered," Jigsaw goes on, the puppet now nestled into a seat, watching past Saw films. "And you wake up chained in a dirty warehouse, somehow still breathing. Blood soaked blades on a huge silver screen. Fear that I can feel. Somehow, self-amputation feels good in a place like this."
In the video's final moments, the tagline "Traps — They make movies better," appears on the screen, referring to Jigsaw's gory means of snaring his victims.
Saw X is the tenth installment in Lionsgate's Saw franchise and will hit theaters Sept. 29.
Katie Reul is a freelance writer at IGN.
