James Wan directed Saw, the 2004 horror film that launched the Saw franchise.
Saw was developed from a short film that Wan and Leigh Whannell made to demonstrate the concept. Wan directed the feature, while Whannell wrote the screenplay and played Adam Stanheight, one of the two men trapped in a grimy bathroom. The film’s central mystery concerns the Jigsaw Killer and his elaborate tests.
The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2004 before receiving a wider theatrical release later that year. Its success led to a long-running series of sequels, many of which expanded the mythology surrounding John Kramer and his accomplices.
Viewers sometimes confuse James Wan with James Wong, another filmmaker associated with genre cinema. Wan is the director of the first Saw film; Whannell is its screenwriter and one of its principal performers.