Final Destination Bloodlines

''Final Destination Bloodlines'' is a 2025 American supernatural horror film directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein from a screenplay by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, based on a story by Jon Watts, Busick, and Evans Taylor. It is the sixth installment in the ''Final Destination'' film series. The film stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana as a college student who inherits visions of a previous premonition that averted a deadly structural failure in 1968 from her dying grandmother and is warned that Death is coming for her family. Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd appear in supporting roles.

After the commercial success of ''Final Destination 5'' (2011), a new film entered development, described as a "re-imagining" of the franchise. In March 2020, series producer Craig Perry said the film would be set "in the world of first responders" and in October that year, series creator Jeffrey Reddick confirmed it was the sixth film in the franchise. In January 2022, the film was planned to be released on the streaming service HBO Max, with Lipovsky and Stein as directors and Busick joining Taylor as co-writer for the film. In March 2024, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the film would instead receive a theatrical release. Filming took place in Vancouver from March to May 2024, following delays due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

''Final Destination Bloodlines'' was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on May 16, 2025. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $280 million worldwide, becoming the best-reviewed and highest-grossing installment in the franchise, and the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2025.

Plot

In 1968, Iris Campbell and her boyfriend Paul attend the opening of the Sky View, a high-rise restaurant tower. Iris has a premonition of the glass dance floor cracking beneath the guests while a gas leak ignites, collapsing the tower and killing everyone.

In the present, Iris' granddaughter, college student Stefani Reyes, suffers from recurring nightmares about the collapse. Realizing that the nightmares are linked to Iris, she returns home seeking answers and is greeted by her father Marty and younger brother Charlie. The siblings visit their uncle Howard, aunt Brenda, and cousins Erik, Julia, and Bobby. When Stefani asks Howard about Iris, he explains that Iris subjected him and Stefani's mother Darlene to an overprotective and isolated upbringing, resulting in the kids being taken from her. The trauma caused Darlene to abandon her own family. Brenda helps Stefani find letters from Iris, which leads her to a fortified cabin where Iris now lives.

Terminally ill, Iris tells Stefani she disrupted Death's design by preventing the tower's collapse, saving the lives of everyone there that night. As a result, Death began killing the survivors in the order they would have died at the Sky View, along with their respective descendants. Paul later died in an accident, prompting Iris to document Death's behavior in a book and live in isolation to prevent Death from going after her family. Though Stefani is skeptical and tries to leave, Iris follows her outside the cabin to give her the book and allows herself to be impaled by a weather vane to prove her claims.

At Iris's funeral, Darlene returns, but Stefani resents her for being absent since childhood. Stefani reads Iris's book and sees a reference to "JB", who found someone who defeated Death. During a family barbecue, a chain reaction causes Howard to be killed by a lawnmower. After Howard's funeral, Stefani tries to explain to her family that Death is coming for Iris' descendants in order of age, starting with Howard's branch of the family before moving onto Darlene's, but they are skeptical. Another chain reaction causes a fire at Erik's tattoo shop, but he survives. Stefani and Charlie meet Erik the following day to try and protect him as he is next in line, but Julia is crushed to death by a garbage truck's compactor instead. The family is confused at Erik being skipped, but Brenda reveals that he was the product of an affair and not part of Iris's bloodline.

Darlene suggests visiting "JB" at a hospital, who turns out to be William Bludworth. Present at the Sky View as a child and the last to die in the premonition, he reveals that he has spent most of his life exchanging ideas with Iris to learn Death's rules. He explains to the family that there are two ways to defeat Death: taking another life or dying and being revived, citing Kimberly Corman as a successful example. Retiring from his job as the mortician, Bludworth leaves the hospital expecting to succumb to his own illness after Iris' bloodline dies, and wishes the family luck before departing.

Erik convinces Bobby to employ Bludworth's second strategy, giving Bobby a snack containing nuts to trigger a fatal allergic reaction and be subsequently revived. The plan backfires when a malfunctioning MRI machine rips out Erik's piercings, pulls him in, and impales him with a wheelchair. A coil from a vending machine is then launched into Bobby's head. Stefani reasons that Erik's intervention, trying to help Bobby, put him on Death's list too. Stefani, Charlie and Darlene decide to drive to Iris's cabin, intending to hide from Death. The RV crashes, and Stefani's seatbelt jams. The cabin explodes after a chain reaction, sending the RV into water as Stefani begins to drown. Darlene saves Charlie and pleads with him to rescue Stefani before a lamp post bisects her. Charlie breaks the seatbelt and successfully resuscitates Stefani.

One week later, the father of Charlie's prom date tells the siblings that Stefani's heart never stopped, meaning she was not dead when Charlie revived her. Soon after, a log-carrying train derails in the neighborhood, and the cargo crushes and kills Stefani and Charlie.

Cast

* Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Stefani Reyes, a college student haunted by nightmares of a tower collapse
* Teo Briones as Charlie Reyes, Stefani's younger brother who is a high school senior
* Richard Harmon as Erik Campbell, one of Stefani's cousins who works at a tattoo parlor
* Owen Patrick Joyner as Bobby Campbell, one of Stefani's cousins who has a peanut allergy
* Rya Kihlstedt as Darlene Campbell, Stefani and Charlie's estranged mother and Iris's daughter
* Anna Lore as Julia Campbell, one of Stefani's cousins who was formerly friends with Stefani
* Gabrielle Rose as Iris Campbell, Stefani's grandmother who had a premonition in 1968
** Brec Bassinger as a young Iris
* Tony Todd as William Bludworth
** Jayden Oniah as a young William
* Tinpo Lee as Marty Reyes, Stefani's father
* April Telek as Brenda Campbell, Stefani's aunt
* Alex Zahara as Howard Campbell, Stefani's uncle and Iris's son
* Max Lloyd-Jones as Paul Campbell, Iris's husband
* Brenna Llewellyn as Val, Stefani's college roommate

Yvette Ferguson, Mark Brandon, Natasha Burnett, Travis Turner, Bernard Cuffling and Noah Bromley appear as survivors of the Sky View tower collapse.

Production

Before the release of ''Final Destination 5'' in 2011, ''Final Destination'' series actor Tony Todd said that if the film were to be successful, two sequels would be filmed back-to-back. In January 2019, New Line Cinema announced a new installment was in development. Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan wrote the initial script, described as a "re-imagining" of the franchise; they ultimately received off-screen credits for additional literary material. In March 2020, series producer Craig Perry said the film would be set "in the world of first responders" and feature EMTs, firefighters, and police officers. When asked if it was in the same canon as the previous installments, he said, "Reboot is probably too strong of a word... it makes it sound like they're going to change everything, but it's definitely a ''Final Destination'' movie".

In October 2021, Lori Evans Taylor was reported to be the new writer for the film. In January 2022, HBO Max announced it would distribute the film, Jon Watts joined the project as a producer, and Taylor was confirmed to have written the screenplay alongside Guy Busick. That July, Reddick revealed the film would differ from the franchise's formula. In September that year, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein were selected from over two hundred candidates to direct the film. During a meeting with executives and producers from New Line to make their pitch, Lipovsky and Stein staged a freak accident like the ones in the films at the end of the call; insiders said the joke, which featured a combination of prerecorded footage and visual effects and demonstrated the filmmakers' passion for the film, got them hired.

In September 2023, Todd officially signed on to reprise his role as William Bludworth. The film explores the character's backstory. Despite Todd's death in November 2024, Warner Bros. confirmed that he had shot all of his scenes for the film.

In March 2024, it was announced that the film would be released in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures in 2025. Most of the cast was also revealed. 71-year-old stuntwoman Yvette Ferguson came out of retirement for a fire stunt in the premonition scene, which director Lipovsky believes to be a world record for the oldest person set on fire on camera.

Principal photography was scheduled to take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, from July to October 2023, but in mid-July, production was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. With Christian Sebaldt as cinematographer, filming instead took place in Vancouver from March 4 to May 13, 2024. Tim Wynn was hired to compose the score by December 2024.

Music

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to ''Final Destination Bloodlines'' was released by Lakeshore Records on the same day as the film's release. The soundtrack contains 32 tracks composed by Tim Wynn. It is the third ''Final Destination'' soundtrack album to be released.

Commercial songs from the film, but not on the soundtrack
* "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
* "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash
* " Fallin'", by Connie Francis
* " Shout", by The Isley Brothers
* " Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", by Bobbie Gentry
* " Escape (The Piña Colada Song)", by Rupert Holmes
* "Enter the Grave", by Evile
* " Without You", by Air Supply
* "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)", by Kelly Clarkson
* " Spirit in the Sky", by Norman Greenbaum

Score

The album contains 32 cues composed by Tim Wynn.

# "Bloodlines (End Titles)" (1:45)
# "Elevator Ride" (1:46)
# "The MRI" (2:25)
# "We Can't Give In" (1:46)
# "Bludworth's Goodbye" (2:45)
# "Bludworth" (2:43)
# "Escape to the Compound" (1:36)
# "Two of Us" (2:30)
# "The Plan" (1:45)
# "Waterworld" (2:44)
# "Seeing is Believing" (1:50)
# "The Skyview" (1:29)
# "Lawnmower Man" (2:00)
# "Drive to Iris" (1:34)
# "Meet Bludworth" (1:08)
# "I See You" (1:33)
# "Decoding Iris' Book" (1:23)
# "Connecting the Dots" (4:13)
# "Resurrection" (3:19)
# "I Screwed Up the Order" (3:03)
# "Tower of Terror" (2:21)
# "Tempting Death" (1:43)
# "Technically You Weren't Dead" (1:15)
# "Graveyard" (2:02)
# "Recycling" (1:11)
# "Your Plan is Nuts" (2:06)
# "Premonition" (1:01)
# "The Book" (1:42)
# "Psycho Grandma" (1:46)
# "The Collapse" (1:05)
# "Look After Paco" (1:38)
# "The Compound" (2:02)
# "End Credits Suite" (5:13)

Release

''Final Destination Bloodlines'' was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on May 16, 2025, and it was released internationally two days prior to its official U.S. release. The movie was filmed for IMAX and was released in both IMAX and standard formats. A double-bill special screening was shown in select theaters on May 9 and 10, a week before the film's release, which included the original 2000 film. A prank screening was held on Mother's Day, with the film being retitled to ''Love at the Sky View''; filmgoers watched the film with their mothers, who were under the assumption it was a romantic comedy.

The film's trailer was released on March 25, 2025, across 65 markets and was available in 44 different language versions. As calculated by WaveMetrix, it garnered 178.7 million views worldwide within the first 24 hours, making it the second most-watched horror film trailer.

On May 19, 2025, the ceiling of the movie theater Cinema Ocho in La Plata, Argentina, collapsed while screening the film, injuring one moviegoer. No deaths were reported.

On June 17, 2025, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced that the film had been made available on digital platforms, which was only a month after its theatrical debut in the United States. The film will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 22, 2025.

Reception

Box office

, ''Final Destination Bloodlines'' has grossed $134.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $145.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $280 million.

In the United States and Canada, ''Bloodlines'' was released alongside '' Hurry Up Tomorrow'' and was projected to gross $35–40 million from 3,523 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $21 million on its first day, including an estimated $5.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $51.6million, finishing first at the box office. Its opening weekend was the biggest for the franchise, even adjusted for inflation, besting ''The Final Destination''. The film made $19.3 million in its second weekend (a 63% drop) and $10.8 million in its third, finishing in third and fourth place, respectively.

In the Philippines, a market where the horror genre is widely popular, ''Final Destination Bloodlines'' had the second-highest-grossing opening weekend of all time for a horror film after '' Insidious: The Red Door'' and broke the records for the highest-grossing opening weekend of 2025, the highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-16 film, and the highest-grossing horror film of all time.

Critical response

The film became the best-reviewed installment in the franchise. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an average four out of five stars, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Todd Gilchrist of ''Variety'' called the film "clever, unpredictable and fun" and praised Todd's performance as "a tender tribute to the horror luminary and retroactive connective tissue between the franchise's disparate chapters". Frank Scheck of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that the film "gives its audiences exactly what they expect. Namely, a series of ingeniously designed, diabolical Rube Goldberg-style fatalities that are mostly so within the realm of possibility that you'll find yourself crossing the street very carefully after you leave the theater". He also praised Todd's appearance as "a poignant reminder that in real life, as in these movies, death comes for everybody".

Future

Stein noted that the narrative potential remains open-ended, stating: "Death's work is never done. There's always more scores to settle". He acknowledged, though, that the creative process takes several years. Perry also expressed openness to continuing the franchise, noting that ''Bloodlines'' has expanded the creative flexibility of the series.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Jon Watts

2020s supernatural horror films
American splatter films
American supernatural horror films
Films affected by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike
Films directed by Adam Stein
Films directed by Zach Lipovsky
Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
Films produced by Jon Watts
Films with screenplays by Guy Busick
Final Destination 6
Films set in 1968
Films set in 2025
Films set in New York (state)
Films scored by Tim Wynn
Films set in the United States
Films shot in Vancouver
IMAX films
New Line Cinema films
Warner Bros. films