Over the course of his acting career, Tony Todd has continued to find work in the horror genre, but aside from his lead turn in the Candyman movies, Final Destination may still be the one series that the actor is best known for, with Todd assuming the role of mortician William Bludworth in three of the franchise’s five installments.
But while the property has found consistent commercial success with its series of mundane yet elaborate death scenes, Todd feels that the Final Destination films may have reached their final destination, telling Bloody Disgusting that it’s simply an issue of profit.
“I am [surprised] but I know why there hasn’t been [another sequel],” Todd said. “It’s really an expensive film to shoot. Just getting whatever accident set pieces, like for example part two with the whole traffic accident, that took a good five weeks to shoot and at least 20 million bucks. So there are other films like the Annabelle films which just focuses on a doll that they can shoot for a lot cheaper and still make money.”
Though the Final Destination movies have always made money, it’s true that other horror franchises have proven they can yield comparable box office figures without the need for big, expensive spectacles. All the same, a profit’s a profit, and while Todd isn’t holding his breath for Final Destination 6, he concedes that anything is possible.
“I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed but who knows?” Todd said. “You never know. It was a good one while we had it.”
Though another Final Destination is off the table for at least the time being, Todd recently collaborated once more with the franchise’s creator Jeffrey Reddick on the similarly titled The Final Wish. The new horror movie is set for release on January 24th, and should the film earn a sequel, Todd sees the potential for his character – an anthropologist named Colin – to be fleshed out further.
“Oh yeah, there’s always a backstory,” Todd said. “Whenever I do something, particularly if it’s a cameo, I make sure that I have a backstory written out so that I can talk to the director intelligent and try to communicate a three-dimensional character. He’s an anthropologist so there’s a lot to work with.”
Time will tell whether Todd has another franchise on his hands, but for now, fans of the Candyman movies are wondering if the star may reprise his most cherished role in Jordan Peele’s upcoming reboot, and though the actor himself seems game to return, it remains unclear whether Peele and his team feel the same way.
But while it’s possible that we’ve already seen the last of Todd in both the Candyman and Final Destination films, you’ll be able to catch him in another popular horror franchise soon enough, assuming the third season of Scream ever sees the light of day.