‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ trailer teases grisly deaths
A family is marked for death in “Final Destination Bloodlines,” the horror series’ first installment since 2011.
Spoiler alert! We’re discussing the ending of “Final Destination Bloodlines” (in theaters now). Stop reading now if you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to know.
“Final Destination Bloodlines” might be the series’ first film to make fans cry.
The new entry in the long-running horror franchise serves as a swan song for Tony Todd, the beloved “Candyman” star who died last November at age 69. Todd has played mysterious mortician William Bludworth going back to the original 2000 “Final Destination” and he posthumously returns one last time in “Bloodlines” to provide advice about cheating death.
But in a poignant final scene, Todd’s character reveals he’s sick and is retiring in order to make the most of his remaining days before death comes for him. “Life is precious,” he says, adding that it’s essential to enjoy every moment because you never know when you’re going to die.
The words take on an emotional second meaning after Todd’s death, playing like a farewell message from the actor himself, and that’s not by accident. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein were aware that Todd was ill while working on the film and crafted the scene as a way for him to say goodbye.
“Everyone knew going in, this was going to be his last ‘Final Destination’ movie, and potentially his last movie ever,” Lipovsky says. “We had a lot of conversations about how to do that in a way that felt like a really beautiful goodbye to such an icon, and give him the opportunity, in some ways, to say goodbye to the audience as well.”
For Bludworth’s moving last words, the directors encouraged Todd to ignore what was on the page and voice his own thoughts about the meaning of life and death.
“We asked Tony to put aside the script and just speak from the heart about what all this is about,” Stein says. “What is life about? What is death about? What do you want the fans to come away with when they watch ‘Final Destination’? And the take that’s in the film is him speaking from the heart, speaking right to the fans.”
Though he was “physically weak,” Todd was “incredibly excited to participate” in the film and insisted on being included, Stein recalls. “He was like, ‘Do not write me out of this movie!’ “
Who is William Bludworth in ‘Final Destination’? Is he the Grim Reaper?
Todd’s scene also finally answers the “Final Destination” series’ biggest lingering mystery: Who, exactly, is Bludworth, and how does he know so much about death?
After years of fan theories − including a popular one that he is death himself − the film reveals Bludworth is an expert on the subject because he cheated death himself decades ago. As a kid, Bludworth was saved when Iris (Brec Bassinger/Gabrielle Rose), Stefani’s (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) grandmother, prevented a tower collapse. Ever since, he has been marked for death, much like all the characters he has advised in the previous movies. But because Iris was in line to die before him, as long as she stayed alive, Bludworth would be safe.
Todd was “really excited” to explain Bludworth’s origin “in a way that made him more of a whole person, rather than just being a mysterious mentor figure,” Stein says.
In earlier films, Bludworth has dispensed advice to teens marked for death. “Bloodlines” suggests these encounters were an opportunity for Bludworth to test his theories about cheating death, because the same thing was happening to him.
“He probably was gathering intelligence,” Stein explains, noting that the guide to cheating death that Iris gives her granddaughter is something she and Bludworth built together. “They shared details about all the deaths that happened in the previous movies as research for how to avoid death.”
Despite Todd’s poor health, Stein remembers the star being “incredibly joyful” on set and getting a kick out of meeting the actors who played his younger self and his character’s mom. “He’s like, ‘I get to meet my mama!’ ” the director recalls.
Lipovsky hopes Todd’s farewell will be cathartic for fans still mourning the loss of a horror icon.
“Anyone who’s been feeling grief around the loss of him as an artist will feel, potentially, some closure and some connection with him in that moment, because it was really him bringing it to the screen.”
Is ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ the last movie in the series?
The death of every major character at the end of a movie would typically preclude a sequel, but not in “Final Destination.”
Though Stefani, her mother and her brother are all killed at the end of “Bloodlines,” assuming the film performs well at the box office, it’s safe to expect a seventh movie will happen, likely with another entirely new cast.
But there is one loose end the next film could follow up on: Bludworth confirms Kimberly Corman (A.J. Cook), the visionary from “Final Destination 2,” successfully cheated death, opening up the possibility of her return for a future sequel − possibly even to succeed Bludworth as mentor to the next group of doomed teens.
