There are only so many ways to depict death, and after six outings, Final Destination Bloodlines isn’t holding back on the theatrics. Ahead of the movie’s release on 16 May, director Zach Lipovsky revealed that the film has set a new world record for setting the oldest person on fire.
“We lit so many different people on fire, including breaking the world record for oldest person on fire with Yvette Ferguson, who did that full body burn in the silver dress,” said the filmmaker in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “That was the oldest person ever on fire, on camera.”
The 71-year-old stuntwoman stepped out of retirement to play Mrs. Fuller, who burst into flames in the opening sequence featuring the fictional, 112-metre-tall Skyview Tower. It should be noted that the record-breaking feat isn’t quite official yet, as the team is still waiting on confirmation after submitting it to Guinness World Records, but it’s still impressive enough to warrant a mention.
According to Lipovsky, the time required to capture the scene amounted to about half of the film’s entire shoot: “The set was incredibly elaborate. It was actually probably seven different sets with all the different pieces. The main set, though, was incredibly huge, and we always laughed because it cost more than the first film we made.”
“We had to build the thing basically out of concrete…It was not only built to look incredibly cool, but it was built to be incredibly robust, as far as having huge amounts of fireproofing. It was so hot that you couldn’t be in that set. You had to be standing really far away,” he added.
That’s but one of the many grisly moments to grace Final Destination Bloodlines, including a nose-piercing death, a deadly breakfast, an air conditioning unit with a loose screw, and more. Lipovsky serves as director alongside Adam Stein, who previously worked on Kim Possible, with Kaitlyn Santa Juana (The Flash), the cast includes Teo Briones (Chucky), Richard Harmon (The 100), Owen Patrick Joyner (Julie and the Phantoms), Rya Kihlstedt (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Anna Lore (Gotham Knights), Brec Bassinger (Stargirl), and the late Tony Todd (Candyman) filling out the main cast.
A previously released synopsis for the forthcoming entry reads, “The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice. Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stephanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.”
Final Destination Bloodlines opens on 16 May.
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.
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