I still vividly remember watching the original Final Destination in cinemas in 2000. In comparison to other horror films of the era like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, this one simply had fate as the bad guy, with its cast of unfortunate teenagers dodging death and then one-by-one meeting a grisly end in a variety of imaginative ways. It was a darkly funny romp full of surprises, and who could forget the famous bus scene? The series went on to have four sequels and a total gross of $665 million.
It’s been eight years since Final Destination 5 hit cinemas though, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when we heard earlier this year that Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema were working on a reboot (though arguably, each of the movies can be watched as a standalone feature anyways). Screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan were hired to write it back in January, but since then, it’s been radio silence. But now, Devon Sawa, star of the original Final Destination, has said in an interview with MovieWeb that he’d love to return.
“Yes, I would. If you were in Vegas right now laying some big money down, I wouldn’t put it on me coming back, but of course. I’ve watched every one of those movies since they’ve come out. But I think the ship has sailed. I’m getting a little older. I think they’re gonna be going with a new, young cast, but yea man. I would do it. I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Sawa’s character Alex Browning was treated fairly shabbily by the franchise. With Final Destination 2 following a different group of teenagers who dodge a freeway pile-up, he was said to have died offscreen when he was hit by a brick that became dislodged from a building.
Browing also appeared in Final Destination 5 (though not played by Sawa) when the film revealed that it was a prequel to the original movie. Still, he deserves at one least one on-screen gruesome death. Come on New Line, let’s make it happen!