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Final Destination 6 is finally on its way 13 years after we last saw death picking off an unwitting group of people one by one. A sixth installment in the wildly popular disaster franchise has been teased for some time, but rumors of a new Final Destination film really picked up steam in 2019.
After numerous behind-the-scenes changes since then, Final Destination: Bloodlines has been confirmed with Freaks creators Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein at the helm. Having worked on all five previous movies, Craig Perry will produce Final Destination 6, and he’s not the only returning face sure to thrill fans.
AFinal Destination 6 release date has not yet been confirmed, but we know that the cast will include Brec Bassinger, Teo Briones, Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Richard Harmon, and Anna Lore, who are all signed on in undisclosed roles. Owen Patrick Joyner, Max Lloyd-Jones, Rya Kihlstedt, and Tinpo Lee round out the ensemble cast.
After being delayed during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes, filming is well underway for Final Destination 6, and as such, the rumor mill is going wild with what we can expect from the narrative, the characters, the gruesome death sequences, and everything in between. Final Destination has a legacy of getting under the skin of viewers with its worst-case-scenario disasters that will bore into the deepest parts of your mind, and with fans waiting more than a decade for a new film, the stakes are high. Here are six things we expect from Final Destination 6.
A narrative shake-up
You know what you’re getting when you sit down to watch a Final Destination film – a character has a vision of a catastrophic event, they intervene to prevent it, and that pisses off death to the point that they pick off the survivors one by one in a series of fantastical accidents. But this time, things are going to be different. No, really. Well, apparently.
Creator Jeffrey Reddick has said Final Destination 6 will shake up the predictable formula we’ve come to know and love. Speaking to Dread Central, he said: “I will say that it’s not just going to be another kind of ‘we set up a group of people, they cheat death, and then just death gets them. And there’s one wrinkle that we kind of added to every movie to kind of like change it up a little bit: this one is… a true Final Destination movie, but it doesn’t follow that kind of formula that we’ve kind of established… I think I can say that much.”
Fans have speculated that the story could follow people trying to get to the bottom of the events of the previous films. In contrast, others believe we could follow those who attend to the victims affected by the catastrophes (more on that later). Hell, maybe we could even follow death as a tangible character in Bloodlines.
A hero who survives
An unfortunate staple of the Final Destination franchise is the inevitable death of the leading character. Isn’t that a kick in the teeth after saving the general public from disaster? But with the promise of a change in the standard film formula, could we see a hero successfully avoid death’s clutches?
Final Destination 2 is so far the only film in the franchise where the person who has the premonition survives, with Kimberly Corman (A. J. Cook) coming out of an explosive car crash and a suicide attempt unscathed. The film also saw New York State Trooper Thomas Burke (Michael Landes) cheat death despite falling into Kimberly’s orbit, with him later saving Kimberly from her car as she drove into a river. However, a bonus feature on Final Destination 3 confirms that both eventually perished thanks to a wood chipper – so we’re back down to 0 heroes left standing.
Rumor has it that Final Destination 6 will focus on first responders, with producer Craig Perry telling Digital Spy in 2020: “We’re toying with having it take place in the world of first responders: EMTs, firemen, and police. These people deal with death on the front lines every day and make choices that can cause people to live or die. We rely on their good judgment, expertise, and calm demeanor. So why not put those people in the nightmare situation where every choice can bring about life and death – but now for themselves?”
Death always comes knocking in the end, so giving audiences a well-deserved survival from a hero put through the wringer would be a new way to expand on the series’ mythology and subvert our expectations.
A brand new location
The Final Destination franchise has been to Long Island, Daytona Beach, and Pennsylvania, with filming taking place across the US and Canada. So if we’re veering wildly off course, it stands to reason that a fresh location will be brought to the table.
Filming officially began on the project in March, but no further information has been released about where the mayhem will unfold. The only sneak peek we have is a social media post from Perry of a chair on set, so even the boldest internet sleuths may find it tricky to deduce any clues from that.
One big fan theory revolved around a cruise ship being involved with the opening disaster sequence thanks to a Final Destination 6 poster, which lends itself to the idea we could be stepping off US shores for the new film.
However, Reddick seemed to debunk this theory in an X post in 2023 when a fan begged creators to make the theory a reality. He wrote: “I’m not directly involved in part 6 but I can tell you, something better than a cruise ship is coming. :)” So what could be better for the film than a cruise ship disaster? Here us out, what about Final Destination…In space?
A deep dive into William Bludworth
Appearing in three of the five films so far, horror icon Tony Todd’s mysterious character William Bludworth has always captivated Final Destination viewers. However, little is known about him other than he is an ominous mortician with a unique knowledge of fate, death, and the rules they follow to guide those in its path.
With Todd confirmed to return to the role for the sixth film, it seems time to expand on his backstory so we can finally learn more about how he got the crucial information he has that has helped our protagonists thus far.
An interview Reddick did with Collider could hint at this, with him saying: “There’s an expansion of the world of Final Destination that I think fans are gonna be really interested in and intrigued by. When I say it doesn’t add a layer, it’s not just, ‘Hey, if you murder somebody in your place, you’ll live.’ It kind of unearths a whole deep layer to the story that kind of, yes, makes it really, really interesting.”
Could it be that this layer of the film’s narrative has to do with Bludworth?
Some familiar faces
When it comes to rebooted franchises and horror sequels, one thing is for certain – some familiar faces are bound to crop up for a sneaky cameo. We know Todd will be returning to his role, though it’s unclear just how much Bludworth will feature in Final Destination 6, whether he will be a main character or appear in a vision or flashback.
Though a return for original Final Destination protagonist Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) seems unlikely, what with him being dead and all, Devon Sawa hasn’t ruled out a return to Final Destination. And it would be a very welcome return for the horror icon, especially for fans enraged by his off-screen death.
If we ignore the bonus features on Final Destination 3, Kimberly and Thomas could still be alive and kicking in the world, cheating death. And some sources have claimed that A. J. Cook has been spotted filming for Final Destination 6, though she is not part of the confirmed cast.
The title Bloodlines suggests we will deal with ancestry and familial legacies within Final Destination 6 – though it might not be Bludworth’s as we previously thought. And interestingly, we’re right back around to Alex.
The first Final Destination film was set to end with us discovering Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) was pregnant with Alex’s child. The idea that birthing new life appeases death has already been explored in the franchise, but an interesting nod to the original film could be that Clear and Alex’s child is introduced as the latest protagonist.
Elaborate death scenes with everyday objects
The first Final Destination film successfully traumatized an entire generation when it came to flying in airplanes, showering, or even crossing the road. And of course, who can drive behind a truck carrying logs after watching Final Destination 2?
The franchise is notorious for making our worst anxieties in everyday life become a reality (well, in a fictitious film world, at least), and it makes for truly terrifying viewing.
But as the franchise continued, the deaths went from the more believable side of freak accidents to dramatic gorefests that aimed to be as much of a spectacle as possible. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with that, but what would be a truly shocking move in the world of Final Destination is for the deaths to be scaled back and the explosive scenes of dread and catastrophe to be more contained.
Suppose Reddick’s tweet we mentioned earlier is anything to go by. In that case, it seems unlikely and that the first key tragedy in the film is going to be bigger than ever to mark the franchise’s return to cinema. But many fans long for the deaths grounded in slightly more realistic doom that first got them hooked on the franchise.
We’ll keep you posted on a Final Destination 6 release date and plot developments as we learn them!
