Final Destination

This article is about the franchise as a whole. For the first film in the series, see Final Destination (film). For the fourth film in the series, see The Final Destination.

Final Destination
File:Final Destination Collection.png DVD set containing all five films
Directed by	Final Destination 1, 3 James Wong Final Destination 2, 4 David R. Ellis Final Destination 5 Steven Quale
Produced by	Glen Morgan Warren Zide Craig Perry Toby Emmerich Jeffrey Reddick James Wong Warren Zide
Screenplay by	Final Destination 1, 3 Glen Morgan Final Destination 1, 3 James Wong Final Destination Jeffrey Reddick Final Destination 2 J. Mackye Gruber Final Destination 2, 4 Eric Bress Final Destination 5 Eric Heisserer
Story by	Final Destination 1 Jeffrey Reddick Final Destination 2 Jeffrey Reddick J. Mackye Gruber Eric Bress
Based on	Characters by Jeffrey Reddick
Starring	Devon Sawa Ali Larter Kerr Smith A.J. Cook Michael Landes Mary Elizabeth Winstead Ryan Merriman Bobby Campo Shantel VanSanten Mykelti Williamson Nicholas D'Agosto Emma Bell Tony Todd
Music by	Final Destination 1, 2, 3 Shirley Walker Final Destination 4, 5 Brian Tyler
Distributed by	Final Destination 1, 2, 3, New Line Cinema Final Destination 4, 5 Warner Bros.
Release dates	Final Destination March 17, 2000 Final Destination 2 January 31, 2003 Final Destination 3 February 10, 2006 The Final Destination August 28, 2009 Final Destination 5 August 12, 2011
Running time	Total (5 films) 455 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	Total (5 films) US$154 million
Box office	Total (5 films) US$665,080,639

Final Destination is an American horror franchise that comprises 5 films, comic books and novels based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, originally written for the X-Files television series. Distributed by New Line Cinema, all five films center around a protagonist that has a premonition of a terrible accident that will kill numerous people. The protagonist and several other people manage to escape from the scene of the accident, before it happens, but are later killed in a series of bizarre accidents that frequently resemble Rube Goldberg machines in their complexity.

The series is noteworthy amongst others in the horror genre in that the "villain" of the movies is not the stereotypical slashers, monsters, aliens, or demons, but Death itself (very occasionally seen as a fleeting shadow), which manipulates the environment with the intent of reclaiming those who managed to escape their fates. With a formidable amount of detail in accident scenes and death scenes, the film series, unlike the vast majority of horror genre films using assassins, monsters or ghosts as enemies, also contradicts others when some of the main characters do not survive after the "adventure".

In addition to the films, a novel series (which includes the novelizations of the first three films) was published throughout 2005 and 2006 by Black Flame. A one-shot comic book titled Final Destination: Sacrifice was released alongside select DVDs of Final Destination 3 in 2006, and a comic series titled Final Destination: Spring Break was published by Zenescope Entertainment in 2007.

Films

Final Destination (2000)

Main article: Final Destination (film)

High school student Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) boards Volee Airlines Flight 180 for a graduation trip to Paris, France. Before take-off, Alex has a premonition that the plane will explode in mid-air, killing everyone on board. When the events from his vision begin to repeat themselves in reality, he panics, and a fight breaks out, resulting in a handful of passengers being left behind including Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), Carter Horton (Kerr Smith), Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott), Valerie Lewton (Kristen Cloke), Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer), and Tod Waggner (Chad Donella), who witness the plane explode moments later. Afterwards, the survivors begin to die one by one through a series of bizarre accidents, and Alex attempts to find a way to "cheat" Death's plan. Six months later, Alex, Clear, and Carter travel to Paris, to celebrate their survival, believing they have finally cheated Death, however, after Carter is crushed by a giant neon sign, they realize Death's plan is still in action.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Main article: Final Destination 2

One year after the plane explosion and the deaths of the first film, Kimberly "Kim" Corman (A. J. Cook) is on her way to Daytona Beach for spring break with her friends Shaina, Dano, and Frankie (Sarah Carter, Alex Rae, and Shaun Sipos) En route, Kimberly has a premonition of a massive car pile-up on Route 23, killing everyone involved. She stalls her SUV on the entrance ramp preventing state trooper Thomas Burke (Michael Landes), Eugene Dix (T.C. Carson), Rory Peters (Jonathan Cherry), Kat Jennings (Keegan Connor Tracy), Nora and Tim Carpenter (Lynda Boyd and James Kirk), Evan Lewis (David Paetkau), and pregnant Isabella Hudson (Justina Machado) from entering the freeway. While Officer Burke questions Kimberly, an 18-wheeler plows into Kimberly's SUV, killing Shaina, Dano, and Frankie. In the days following the accident, Kimberly learns about the crash of Flight 180 and teams up with Clear, the last survivor, to try to save a new group of people from Death. The survivors learn that only "new life" can defeat Death, and are killed one by one through a series of freak accidents as Isabella's delivery date draws closer. It is later revealed that Isabella was never meant to die in the pileup, and Kimberly drowns herself in a lake so that she can be resuscitated by emergency staff, thus granting her "new life"; saving her and Thomas.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

Main article: Final Destination 3

Six years after the explosion of Flight 180 of the first film, and five years after the pileup on Route 23 of the second film Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a high school student, visits an amusement park for grad night with her friends Kevin Fischer (Ryan Merriman), Jason Wise (Jesse Moss), and Carrie Dreyer (Gina Holden). As Wendy and her friends board the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Wendy has a premonition that the ride will crash, killing everyone on board. Wendy panics and gets off the roller coaster along with Kevin, Wendy's younger sister Julie (Amanda Crew), Ian McKinley (Kris Lemche), Perry Malinowski (Maggie Ma), Erin Ulmer (Alexz Johnson), Lewis Romero (Texas Battle), Frankie Cheeks (Sam Easton), and Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin (Chelan Simmons and Crystal Lowe), before the accident occurs. When the survivors begin to die in a series of strange accidents, Wendy and Kevin set out to save those who remain. Most of their attempts are futile, with the exception of Julie, and themselves. They believe that they have cheated death, however, the three "coincidentally" cross paths five months later and are killed in a horrifying subway accident. However, it was revealed that it was a premonition of what will happen next. The film ends with a faint screeching sound heard.

The Final Destination (2009)

Main article: The Final Destination

Ten years after the explosion of Flight 180, nine years after the pileup on Route 23, and four years after the derailment of the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo) visits the McKinley Speedway for a study break with his friends Lori Milligan, Janet Cunningham, and Hunt Wynorski. While watching the race, Nick has a premonition that multiple race cars will crash, sending debris into the stands and causing the stadium to collapse on the spectators. Nick persuades Lori (Shantel VanSanten), Janet (Haley Webb), and Hunt (Nick Zano), security guard George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson), and spectators Jonathan Groves (Jackson Walker), Andy Kewzer (Andrew Fiscella), Samantha Lane (Krista Allen), Carter Daniels (Justin Welborn), and Nadia Monroy (Stephanie Honoré) to leave the stadium, before the accident occurs. Once again, the survivors are killed in a series of bizarre accidents except Janet, who is rescued just moments before her death thanks to Nick's visions. This leads the remaining survivors to believe they have cheated Death until Nick has another premonition of a disastrous explosion at a shopping mall, which he manages to prevent, saving him, Lori, and Janet. Two weeks later, Nick realizes the mall disaster vision was only meant to lead them to where Death wanted them to be and they are all killed by a runaway semi-trailer truck.

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Main article: Final Destination 5

Sam Lawton (Nicholas D'Agosto) is on his way to a corporate retreat with his colleagues. While they cross the North Bay Bridge Sam has a premonition that the bridge will collapse, killing many of those on it. Sam manages to rescue his co-workers Molly Harper (Emma Bell), Nathan Sears (Arlen Escarpeta), Peter Friedkin (Miles Fisher), Dennis Lapman (David Koechner), Olivia Castle (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), Isaac Palmer (P. J. Byrne), and Candice Hooper (Ellen Wroe), before his vision becomes a reality. After Candice and Isaac die in bizarre accidents, Sam is warned about Death's plan and told that his only means of survival are to kill someone who was never meant to die on the bridge, and claim their remaining lifespan. Olivia and Dennis are killed before they have a chance to save themselves, but Nathan claims the lifespan of a co-worker when he accidentally causes his death in a warehouse accident. Peter attempts to kill Molly, jealous that she survived instead of Candice. He eventually gains the lifespan of an investigating agent, but is killed by Sam before he can kill Molly. Sam and Molly later board a plane to Paris, later revealed to be Flight 180, and both are killed in the resulting explosion. The landing gear is sent towards New York City and crashes into a cocktail bar, killing Nathan.

Structure of the films

Movies are different in themselves, but all have the same theme and structure.

The movies begin traditionally with the opening credits and after that, the main character is in a place prone to accidents (such as an airport, a highway, an amusement park, race track, a suspension bridge, etc.) and starts to realize that something strange is going on. There are ironic signs such as plates, numbers, music, people, talking characters or places in poor storage conditions. All this refers to death or accidents. Soon after, the main character says they have a strange sensation and then an accident starts making several victims. The main character gets involved and when they realizes they will die, they concluded that they had a dream or a premonition: the vision ends a few moments before the accident happen and the main character concludes that it was true, because some things they saw in the premonition actually happen. This is the time to try to prevent. Confusion always happens, causing some who should die in the accident to survive. But some people (either friends, colleagues or even strangers) end up dying in the accident. A memorial happens and the main character realizes something is still wrong. After a few survivors die, the main character seeks an explanation and realize that Death is seeking one by one, and in the same order that they should have died in the accident. The character begins to have premonitory visions concerning the upcoming deaths. At that time, some characters come together to prevent death, while others disagree, thinking that's insane, and eventually die. Generally, the main characters survive to the end. But the film ends when the main characters think they have defeated death - but it was just waiting for the right moment to strike again.

Signs

Signs are always present throughout the film, and some just are perceived by the protagonist and others can be perceived by other character. The premonitory signs are and should be understood to be deciphered. They can be words, visions, signs, photos, banners, songs, numbers and etc. The visions are present in detailed forms on the first, second and fourth film. It's not really like a premonition, but usually show how the next character will die. They must decipher who is the character and how they will die, which is not always clear. The same happens in the third film, however, unlike visions, the character has photos. On the 5th film, the victims themselves recognize the signs (finger cut or broken picture, for example). Some songs are also present in movies like "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver (who died in a plane crash), "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC in Final Destination 2, "Turn Around, Look At Me" by The Lettermen in Final Destination 3, "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas in Final Destination 5. The number 180 (flight number of the first film) is an important number in the franchise. It appears in all the films, referencing Death.

Examples of sings

• The paper that contained the name of Tod flew to Alex, but he did not realize Tod was the first victim. (Final Destination)
• Wherever it appears the number 180 something happens.
• The beer brand (Ice Pale Ale) that appears in the truck (Final Destination 2), could be understood only by those who saw the 1st movie, because it was the beer Alex, Clear and Carter drink in Paris.
• The trophy with a hook (looked like a man with hooks). It was seen by Rory. (Final Destination 2)
• Ian pointing a pistol at Erin. In fact, Erin die impaled by nails. (Final Destination 3)
• Nick's signs on the 4th film were basically dreams. (The Final Destination)
• A photo of Nick and Lori falls to the ground and a certain sharp object falls on it. (The Final Destination)
• Alex's father tells him that "he have a whole life ahead". (Final Destination)
• Jason says to Wendy "they'll meet at the end". (Final Destination 3)
• The truck that kills Frankie and almost hits Kevin and Wendy is similar to that seen in the second movie. It also have the saying "Drink responsibly". (Final Destination 3)
• Olivia's picture at the Devil's Flight (Final Destination 3). The portrait cracked over her right eye. (Final Destination 5)

The Death

Death is represented in the films as an evil presence that follows the main character. There is no representation of death in the movies, but in Final Destination it is possible to notice a dark figure wherever it's there. In Final Destination 5 the victim realizes that there is a presence (which makes the lights flash, for example). There are no answers on how the main character manages to have a premonition, but according to William Bludworth (present in the film): "In death there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes". It is known that death has a scheme for each of the people alive and that every people's action can decide the way they will die.

The way the death acts in movies makes this information true. Each object or action of the character can help in the event of death. An example of this is in the first death of Final Destination 2, where Evan Lewis throws the spaghetti out of his apartment, slips and ends up having his eye impaled by the stairs. Death sometimes acts supernaturally (moving objects mysteriously) or natural, such as problems in motors, wind knocking gasoline, explosions and landslides.

The Plan of Death

The survivors end up dying in the same order that they should have died in the initial accident and in reverse order in Final Destination 2. Some movies don't show the entire Death list, that should logically be discovered by the characters (as in Final Destination 3 and Final Destination). Some survivors don't have their death shown in the premonition nor they join the others characters before the real accident occurs. The way to break the list is when the next to die is saved, and then the Death passes to the next. Meanwhile, as seen in the movies, you cannot die before it's your turn. When the list is complete, the Death restarts its cycle. You can see that the protagonist is always the last on the list (even in Final Destination 2, where Kimberly would be first on the list and after being saved saved, she becomes the last).

Flight 180 and connections

As shown in the second film, deaths are connected with each other (flight 180 survivors indirectly engaged with the highway survivors), and so on. Clear Rivers says the death was working in the opposite way to repair the edges left in the first film and that leaving the airplane changed the whole scheme of Death. Thus, we can say that the death of all the characters in the franchise are connected to the flight 180 survivors. Hadn't they come out and hadn't Sam left the bridge before the airplane crash, all the characters of the films would already be dead.

Avoiding Death

Saving the next person is practically impossible. So there are several theories of how to defeat the Death:

• Save a person/break the list - The characters think if they break the list or save a specific person, it will eventually end Death's plan. As shown in all the movies, this is not possible.
• Kill the last on the list - This theory occurred to Ian in Final Destination 3. If the last person on the list took the decision to kill themself, the Death could end its plan. However, you cannot die before it's your turn as shown in Final Destination (2000).
• New life or birth unforeseen by Death - This theory raised in Final Destination 2 maintains that if a person is born of one of the survivors, death would be forced to start over. This theory is not impossible at all, since in the second film, the pregnant woman wouldn't die in the accident. Another theory raised in this film is the last on the list could try to commit suicide and be saved, so they would have a "new life".
• Kill people who aren't on the list - This theory occurred in Final Destination 5. If a survivor kill someone who are not on the list, they could escape Death's plan. This theory was used by Peter, Nathan and Sam, but the survivor can only live up to the day that the person who they killed should die.
• Save all lives would be the only way to survive for a while - the truth is that you never survives, death always comes as may be shown in recent films. Following the logic, the theory that probably (having enough luck) can give some result is the antecedent, because the others have not proved effective.

Future

On February 1, 2011, Tony Todd said in an interview with DreadCentral that if Final Destination 5 was a success at the box office, then two sequels would be filmed back-to-back. On August 23, 2011, when inquired whether he would be directing a sequel, Steven Quale elaborated, "Who knows. Never say never. I mean, it'll be up to the fans. We'll see how this one performs internationally and if it makes as much money as the fourth one, I'm sure Warner Brothers will want to make another one."

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Final Destination characters

List indicator(s)

• (v) indicates the actor or actress used only his or her voice for his or her film character
• (f) indicates the actor or actress did not appear in any new footage for the film; footage from an earlier film was used.
• (photo) indicates the actor or actress appeared in a photograph for the film.
• (s) indicates that the actor did not appear, but a CGI skeleton represented that character and their mode of death.
• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Character	Film
	Final Destination (2000)	Final Destination 2 (2003)	Final Destination 3 (2006)	The Final Destination (2009)	Final Destination 5 (2011)
William Bludworth	Tony Todd		Tony Todd (v)		Tony Todd
Clear Rivers	Ali Larter			Ali Larter (s)	Ali Larter (f)
Alex Browning	Devon Sawa	Devon Sawa (photo)			Devon Sawa (f)
Carter Horton	Kerr Smith	Kerr Smith (photo)			Kerr Smith (f)
Billy Hitchcock	Seann William Scott	Seann William Scott (photo)		Seann William Scott (s)	Seann WIlliam Scott (f)
Valerie Lewton	Kristen Cloke	Kristen Cloke (photo)		Kristen Cloke (s)	Kristen Cloke (f)
Terry Chaney	Amanda Detmer	Amanda Detmer (photo)		Amanda Detmer (f)	Amanda Detmer (f)
Tod Waggner	Chad Donella	Chad Donella (photo)		Chad Donella (s)	Chad Donella (f)
George Waggner	Brendan Fehr				Brendan Fehr (f)
Larry Murnau	Forbes Angus				Forbes Angus (f)
Agent Weine	Daniel Roebuck
Agent Schreck	Roger Guenveur Smith
Kimberly Corman		A. J. Cook	A. J. Cook (photo)
Thomas Burke		Michael Landes	Michael Landes (photo)		Michael Landes (f)
Eugene Dix		T. C. Carson		reference	T. C. Carson (f)
Rory Peters		Jonathan Cherry		Jonathan Cherry (s)	Jonathan Cherry (f)
Kat Jennings		Keegan Connor Tracy		Keegan Connor Tracy (s)	Keegan Connor Tracy (f)
Nora Carpenter		Lynda Boyd		Lynda Boyd (s)	Lynda Boyd (f)
Tim Carpenter		James Kirk			James Kirk (f)
Evan Lewis		David Paetkau		David Paetkau (s)	David Paetkau (f)
Dano Estevez		Alex Rae		reference	Alex Rae (f)
Frankie Whitman		Shaun Sipos		reference	Shaun Sipos (f)
Shaina McKlank		Sarah Carter		reference	Sarah Carter (f)
Brian Gibbons		Noel Fisher
Isabella Hudson		Justina Machado
Wendy Christensen			Mary Elizabeth Winstead		Mary Elizabeth Winstead (f)
Kevin Fischer			Ryan Merriman		Ryan Merriman (f)
Julie Christensen			Amanda Crew		Amanda Crew (f)
Ian McKinley			Kris Lemche	Kris Lemche (s)	Kris Lemche (f)
Perry Malinowski			Maggie Ma	Maggie Ma (s)	Maggie Ma (f)
Erin Ulmer			Alexz Johnson	Alexz Johnson (s)	Alexz Johnson (f)
Lewis Romero			Texas Battle	Texas Battle (s)	Texas Battle (f)
Frankie Cheeks			Sam Easton	Sam Easton (s)	Sam Easton (f)
Ashley Fruend			Chelan Simmons	Chelan Simmons (s)	Chelan Simmons (f)
Ashlyn Halperin			Crystal Lowe	Crystal Lowe (s)	Crystal Lowe (f)
Jason Wise			Jesse Moss	reference
Carrie Dreyer			Gina Holden	reference
Nick O'Bannon				Bobby Campo	Bobby Campo (f)
Lori Milligan				Shantel VanSanten	Shantel VanSanten (f)
Janet Cunningham				Haley Webb	Haley Webb (f)
Hunt Wynorski				Nick Zano	Nick Zano (f)
George Lanter				Mykelti Williamson	Mykelti Williamson (f)
Andy Kewzer				Andrew Fiscella	Andrew Fiscella (f)
Samantha Lane				Krista Allen	Krista Allen (f)
Carter Daniels				Justin Welborn	Justin Welborn (f)
Nadia Monroy				Stephanie Honoré	Stephanie Honoré (f)
Jonathan Groves				Jackson Walker
Cynthia Daniels				Lara Grice	Lara Grice (f)
Sam Lawton					Nicholas D'Agosto
Molly Harper					Emma Bell
Peter Friedkin					Miles Fisher
Agent Block					Courtney B. Vance
Nathan Sears					Arlen Escarpeta
Dennis Lapman					David Koechner
Olivia Castle					Jacqueline MacInnes Wood
Isaac Palmer					P. J. Byrne
Candice Hooper					Ellen Wroe
Roy Carson					Brent Stait
John (Roy's friend)					Roman Podhora

Novels

Throughout 2005, publishing company Black Flame released a series of Final Destination books which faithfully follow the premise of the films, with each involving a group of people who find themselves targeted by Death after surviving a catastrophe of some sort due to a character experiencing a precognitive vision.

• The first novel, entitled Dead Reckoning, has punk rocker Jessica Golden saving herself and several others from the collapse of Club Kitty in Los Angeles, earning Death's ire.

• Destination Zero, also set in LA, has magazine employee Patricia Fuller and few others survive a train bombing and afterward, while being stalked by Death, Patti learns this is not the first time her family has been hunted by the entity.

• End of the Line has a group of New York subway crash survivors, led by twins Danny and Louise King, trying to escape Death, who uses an unknowing agent to hasten its acquisition of the survivors.

• In Dead Man's Hand a group meant to die in the crash of a Las Vegas glass elevator are stalked by both Death and the FBI, the latter believing the group's savior Allie Goodwin-Gaines was responsible for the elevator crash.

• Looks Could Kill has beautiful New York model Stephanie "Sherry" Pulaski stopping her friends from boarding a yacht when she has a vision of it exploding, but is left horribly disfigured and comatose by flying debris moments afterward when her vision comes true; eventually awakening the embittered Stephanie makes a deal with Death, aiding it in claiming her friends in exchange for having her good looks restored.

• After the run of the original series of books Black Flame released novelizations of the first three films in January 2006. Black Flame's last Final Destination novel was Death of the Senses released in mid-2006. Taking place in New York the book has a homeless man named Jack Curtis saving policewoman Amy Tom from a maniac after having a vision of Amy's death; Amy's attacker is later revealed to be a serial killer who was meant to murder six other people (representing the first five senses and a sixth) who Death begins targeting as Jack and Amy rush to find and warn the intended victims. It was, due to a printing error, only available for a short period of time before being recalled, leaving only a few copies in circulation.

• A tenth novel, titled Wipeout and written by Alex Johnson, was planned, but cancelled; the book would have featured a pair of surfers and several others, after surviving a plane crash in Hawaii, being hunted by Death and the survivor of another disaster, an unstable soldier who had nearly died in an ambush in Afghanistan.

Comics

The first Final Destination comic book, entitled Sacrifice, was published by Zenescope Entertainment and came packaged with a limited edition DVD of Final Destination 3 sold exclusively at Circuit City. The premise of the story involves the survivor of a terrible accident, who continually experiences images of other people's deaths, isolating himself from the rest of the world to escape the visions that torment him. Zenescope later released a five issue miniseries, subtitled Spring Break, which involves a group led by Carly Hagan being stalked by Death after surviving a hotel fire and becoming stranded in Cancún, Mexico. The miniseries was later released in a trade paperback collection, which included the Sacrifice comic as bonus content.

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Running time	Release date	Box office gross			Box office ranking		Budget	Ref(s)
			North America	Outside North America	Worldwide	All time North America	All time worldwide
Final Destination	98 min	March 17, 2000	$53,331,147	$59,549,147	$112,880,294	#1,187		$23 million
Final Destination 2	90 min	January 31, 2003	$46,961,214	$43,465,191	$90,426,405	#1,372		$26 million
Final Destination 3	93 min	February 10, 2006	$54,098,051	$63,621,107	$117,719,158	#1,166		$25 million
The Final Destination	82 min	August 28, 2009	$66,477,700	$119,689,439	$186,167,139	#907		$40 million
Final Destination 5	92 min	August 12, 2011	$42,587,643	$115,300,000	$157,887,643	#1,523		$40 million
Total			$263,455,755	$401,624,884	$665,080,639			$154 million
List indicator(s) A dark grey cell indicates information is not available for the film.

Critical and public reception

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Final Destination	34% (94 reviews)	36 (28 reviews)	B-
Final Destination 2	48% (109 reviews)	38 (25 reviews)	B+
Final Destination 3	43% (115 reviews)	41 (28 reviews)	B+
The Final Destination	29% (94 reviews)	30 (14 reviews)	C
Final Destination 5	61% (129 reviews)	50 (24 reviews)	B+

External links

• Final Destination series at AllMovie