Final Destination is an absolutely terrifying film series. The success of the franchise stems less from its over-the-top effects or likable characters and more from the unique premise that it’s strictly adhered to since the turn of the millennium. When someone finds a way to cheat death itself, their luck certainly won’t last forever: you’ll die when you’re supposed to die, and it’ll happen when you least expect it.
Instead of taking the form of a grim reaper or otherwise burly serial killer, however, everyday situations and objects could become implements of death at any odd moment. There’s a reason why lumber trucks still make some people nervous years after Final Destination 2 came out.
Following the moderate success of Scream’s return to the big screen, on top of other legacy franchises being revived in the 2020s, who’s to say that Final Destination 6 can’t pull off something similar? With the latest trend of putting a different spin on classic, established franchises, we’re willing to bet we’ll see something similar in our favorite accidental death series. In fact, there’s a lot we want to see from Final Destination 6.
Trying Something New
Despite each film maintaining its own unique scenarios, characters, and bombastic finales, the setup for every Final Destination film is pretty interchangeable. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with following a formula, but doing it half-a-dozen times with little variation isn’t exactly groundbreaking.
Every Final Destination film follows the same rough plot beats. An inciting incident kills off the main cast before being revealed as a deadly premonition. Subsequently, the main cast avoids dying due to circumventing the situation. They’re picked off one by one as they attempt to “cheat” death through a variety of methods.
Sometimes people unrelated to the initial incident are “traded” to save their own lives, while other times, our characters inadvertently stumble into their demise. The remaining few feel as though they’ve successfully escaped before being directly sucked into another catastrophic incident. Roll credits.
Again, formulas are utilized for a reason — they work. But, seeing as how the modern day has given other aging horror franchises a fresh coat of paint, we have to wonder if Final Destination 6 will bother shaking things up a bit. Thankfully, in an interview with Dread Central, series creator Jeffrey Reddick has some positive information to share.
Namely, the sixth entry will throw a wrench into the winning formula we’ve become accustomed to, hopefully taking the franchise in a new direction. Some rumors suggest that we may follow the perspective of a character outside of death’s wrath, seeking some kind of connection between the series of accidental kills. Another rumor suggests the sixth film will take place on an isolated cruise. Despite being an exciting proposition, the idea was quickly shot down by Reddick over Twitter.
Bigger Isn’t Always Better
While Final Destination 5 was praised for being a thematic conclusion to the series, ending during the first film’s horrific opening scene, it reflects a trend that Final Destination, unfortunately, suffered from in its heyday. With any horror sequel, you need to go bigger. Whereas the first film opened with a plausible scenario in the form of a plane crash, the following films had to continually find ways to build up the carnage.
Whether it’s the highway crash in the second film or the roller coaster in the third film, things started to slowly become more ridiculous until the outright cartoonish NASCAR race in the fourth film. It’s not necessarily jumping the shark, but we may as well get ready for it.
Taking a step back and embracing the more subdued nature of Final Destination‘s earlier entries may be important in reintroducing the franchise to a new generation while also re-grounding the universe into something more realistically plausible.
Yes, a “realistic” Final Destination movie is a bit of an oxymoron. Still, there’s an opportunity to combine the franchise’s goofier aspects with something that resonates with newer audiences and old fans. Instead of upping the body count, why not introduce a set of characters we genuinely want to see survive? Instead of setting up hilariously impractical ways to die, why not stick to plausible scenarios that could happen to any of us?
Taking Inspiration From Elsewhere
It’s been twelve years since Final Destination 5. Just to put things in perspective, imagine how different life was in 2011 compared to now. The world of horror, in particular, was fraught with sequels, remakes, prequels, and a handful of prominent titles that flipped horror tropes on their head. Compare that to nowadays, where not only are sequels being churned out at a similar rate, they’re taking an unprecedented amount of risk in re-inventing their respective franchises.
Final Destination 6 presents a unique opportunity for the aging series. Similar to how a new generation is utterly enamored by Michael Myers, Final Destination 6 may be able to do the same for Tony Todd’s William Bludworth, everyone’s favorite coroner. The ominous figure has always been a means of exposition throughout the series, revealing a working knowledge of the rules that govern who lives and dies.
By giving the figure a reworked set of rules or passing the torch to someone new, we could have a brand-new horror icon for the next generation of fans.
Overall, we’re just excited that Final Destination 6 is even happening. Even if a revival would eventually be on the cards at some point, the series has always set itself apart for its unique premise and entertaining entries. We can only hope that whatever Final Destination 6 has in store will aim to improve the series, possibly setting the stage for more films to come.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
