At a Sundance screening of a 4K restoration of Saw, original director James Wan and screenwriter/actor Leigh Whannell revealed that they “love” the queer fan fiction about main characters Adam (Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence (Cary Elwes).

When asked about the “homoerotic” reading of the that relationship in the Q&A, Wan said, “We do love the fan fiction version for this. It is fantastic. What was the fan fiction that came out of Twilight? [Crowd yells 50 Shades of Grey] I’ve been waiting 20 years for the fan fiction to come out of Saw that would be the next 50 Shades.” Whannell added that a gay porn parody already exists, likely referring to Bonesaw (2006) or Rammer (2006).

Queer audiences have long appreciated the horror franchise, finding a charged subtext in the first film’s core relationship. That perspective has even inspired a queer musical parody (SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw), while there is a popular “headcanon” (a fan’s personal interpretation of a story) that embraces Adam as a trans man, a seemingly unmotivated reading that has gained traction over time and endeared the character to the trans community.

Wan and Whannell returned to Sundance 22 years later to celebrate the horror movie for the festival’s last year in Park City, Utah, before moving to Boulder, Colorado next year. They premiered the first Saw at the Egyptian Theatre in 2004, with Sundance propelling the film to become a resounding indie success story. Struggling for funding, the young Australian filmmakers had made a proof-of-concept short that attracted producers for the feature, and when it played at the festival, the buzzy audience reaction inspired Lionsgate to pick up distribution rights. While the studio had initially planned a direct-to-video release, they sent it to theatres in the UK in September and the US over Halloween weekend. The film became a massive hit, earning over $100 million on a roughly $1 million budget.

The pair also teased their intention to return to the 10-film franchise. “All I can say at this point is we’re gonna do one,” Wan said. “We definitely want to hark back to the spirit of the original film. We want to be mindful and be respectful of what fans have learned about the soapy nature of the entire franchise and we know there’s a lot of love for the world. But we definitely want to go back to the spirit of the first film, and we want to make another scary Saw movie.”