Final Destination Producer Confirms If Future Sequels Will Give Death a Body

While reactions are positive for the new entry in the Final Destination franchise, it looks like there's one angle fans shouldn't expect to be covered in the sequel, or any future installment. Bloodlines follows a unique story for the series, which sees Death hunting down an entire family that shouldn't exist.

The Direct's Russ Milheim spoke with long-time franchise producer Craig Perry, who not only discussed the new installment in the hit Warner Bros. horror franchise but also revealed one direction the series will likely never take. Final Destination: Bloodlines hits theaters on May 16, 2025.

Don't Expect an Embodiment of Death in the Final Destination Franchise

"I Don't Think We'll Ever Go to That Place..."

• The Direct: "One of the joys of horror franchises is how they can just constantly evolve going forward... [In that vein], I've always wondered, what would the physical embodiment of death actually look like? Is that something you've ever considered actually exploring, kind of like a heavier sci-fi way in these films, and like, what if we gave them somebody to interact with?"

Craig Perry: Consistently throughout the film, there was an enormous debate for the first movie about what we want, or maybe don't want to see, about Death's presence in that room. James Wong and Glenn Morgan were very insistent, and I agree with them, that we should not see anything, because that allows you to bring what you believe death to be into the equation.

It allows us, the movie, to travel internationally, into different cultures, and whatever they think death is, you bring that baggage and that lens into the theater. So, when you're watching it, even though we don't show it, you're seeing it in your mind's eye, which makes it both personal to you and specific to where you are in the world. So, I don't think we'll ever go to that place, because it makes it one degree less universal and the one degree less of a movie that everybody can participate in.

Why Bloodlines Was the Best Next Move for the Franchise

This New Angle "Really Invigorated the Creative Process."

• The Direct: "The film is titled Bloodlines. Yes, it's all about death, basically hunting down a family. When it came to that idea, what was it that really spoke to you about that idea, and just how that would evolve the franchise, and how it might paint the whole franchise in a new light for long-term fans?"

Craig Perry: Jon Watts came up with the original idea board. He was a lifelong 'Final Destination' fan, and we were lucky that he came to us, [he said] I got an idea, and we were like, great. And I think one of the reasons why his idea was so compelling is that by having it be a family, it immediately makes you emotionally invested in this group of people, that there's a shorthand. 

We all are part of families, good, bad, and different, the sort of messiness of families, and that's a fertile ground for both drama and for empathy. So you get on board with this family really fast. It also provides a very quick and easy way for there to be sort of a lineage that you can follow, who begat who, it's quite biblical.

But it also, and Jon's original idea was to have this leapfrog from 50 years earlier to now, having the bloodline follow this very long and tortured path to get to Stefani, our female lead, played by Kaitlyn Santa Juana. So those two elements really took the franchise and didn't change it, but just allowed you to enter it from a different door in such a way that it felt both fresh and really invigorated the creative process.

Will the Wait for Final Destination 7 Be Just as Long as 6?

"Don't Count Your Chickens."

• The Direct: "Now, fans had to wait 14 years for this movie. Number seven, is that wait gonna be just as cruel? Have there been conversations already about what might be next?"

Craig Perry: Well, you know what? Here's the thing: don't count your chickens. But look, we were just grateful to have the opportunity to make another movie. And if the fans respond the way I think they do, and what I hope they do, because we really put a lot of care into sort of making this for them, for many reasons, then maybe we'll have an opportunity. But right now, we're just looking forward to have a whole lot of people go to see 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' in IMAX.

The full video interview with Craig Perry can be seen below: