Final Destination 6 Is Happening
Final Destination 6 will be directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein.
New Line’s search for a director for Final Destination 6 ended, as reported by THR. The film franchise is getting its first sequel in over a decade, with the team of Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein set to helm the filming of a script by Guy Busick and Lori Evans, based on a treatment by Jon Watts. Watts, known for directing the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, will also be a co-producer on the project.
The franchise usually follows a younger person who manages to escape death by a premonition warning them of disaster, also saving the lives of several other people. Death then follows all of them in the guise of seemly mundane freak accidents with supernatural causes. The sequels build upon this by depicting survivors of disasters caused by the deaths of the original characters.
Final Destination 6 will not be deviating from this concept, but not much else is known about the script. Writers Busick and Evans are known for the script for the Scream reboot, so their experience with relaunching young adult horror franchises is established.
There were over 200 candidates to sift through for the job of directing the film, but Lipovsky and Stein landed it with a combination of reputation and ingenuity. They were already considered frontrunners for the job on the strength of 2018’s Freaks. The duo found a way to go the extra mile to impress the studio with an audition that truly shows what they could bring to the film.
While on a Zoom call to make their pitch to the studio, they sat before a fireplace and under a metal ceiling fan. The call got interrupted when a fire suddenly broke out from the fireplace. Once the directors extinguished that, the metal fan collapsed and beheaded one of them.
This display of filmmaking impressed the studio because it showed them the potential Lipovsky and Stein bring to the project. It also showed their enthusiasm for Final Destination 6 and the entire franchise through their art. This is a hint of what is to come from a pair that is poised to leave their mark on the horror film genre.
Both the co-directors were acclaimed for Freaks, with wide notice at the Toronto Internation Film Festival that eventually translated into a huge audience. Netflix had Freaks in its top 10 list, and Rotton Tomatoes rated the sci-fi thriller as one of its Best Films of 2019. They are also both Emmy winners for a variety of television projects, as well as other horror and action titles.
The Final Destination franchise already has five installments, with the fifth released in 2011 and starring Nicholas D’Agostino, Emma Bell, and Tony Todd as Bludworth, the omnipresent undertaker and voice for the essence of Death. The original, made in 2000, starred Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, and Kerr Smith as teens who escape a disastrous plane crash only to watch as the other survivors are mysteriously killed.
As New Line’s third most lucrative property, raking in $700 million worldwide, the Final Destination franchise clearly has viewers begging for more. Final Destination 6 promises to carry on Death’s story with new characters, a new plot, and maybe some new ways to die.
