There’s no stopping death, and New Line is all for it. Following the critical and commercial success of Final Destination: Bloodlines, the production company has announced that Final Destination 7 (not the official name) is in development at Warner Bros., with Lori Evans Taylor, who worked on the script for the latest instalment, returning as scribe.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, franchise producer Craig Perry and series veteran Sheila Hanahan Taylor will serve as producers, alongside Jon Watts, Dianne McGunigle, and Toby Emmerich. Warren Zide is also attached as executive producer, but not much else is known about the project.
The Final Destination 7 news comes after Bloodlines opened at No.1 earlier in May, securing the best opening weekend in the series to date with a domestic debut of US$51 million at the box office. It became the franchise’s highest-grossing film at the end of its theatrical run, adding a US$286 million global haul to a US$983 million worldwide tally. As things stand, it’s the third-biggest horror title for New Line, surpassed only by The Conjuring universe (US$2.3 million) and the IT films (US$1.2 billion).
Originally written for the X-Files TV series, each entry in the 25-year-old series follows a different self-contained story, but ties into the overarching plot involving a small group of people who escape impending death after one visionary individual has a sudden premonition and warns them about a major disaster that is about to occur. After avoiding their foretold deaths, the survivors are later killed one by one in bizarre accidents caused by an unseen force, described as Death itself, setting off a chain of events.
While a surprise hit for New Line, the franchise remained dormant for 14 years before Bloodlines restored it to its former glory, in part due to Taylor’s writing. The writer previously worked on the psychological thriller Cellar Door and made her directorial debut with Bed Rest, starring Scream star Melissa Barrera.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
