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 Jon Watts, Busick, and Evans Taylor. It is the standalone sequel to Final Destination 5 (2011) and 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.

Final Destination Bloodlines
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Zach Lipovsky Adam Stein
Screenplay by	Guy Busick Lori Evans Taylor
Story by	Jon Watts Guy Busick Lori Evans Taylor
Based on	Characters by Jeffrey Reddick
Produced by	Craig Perry Sheila Hanahan Taylor Jon Watts Dianne McGunigle Toby Emmerich
Starring	Kaitlyn Santa Juana Teo Briones Richard Harmon Owen Patrick Joyner Anna Lore Brec Bassinger Tony Todd
Cinematography	Christian Sebaldt
Edited by	Sabrina Pitre
Music by	Tim Wynn
Production companies	New Line Cinema Practical Pictures Freshman Year Fireside Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	May 16, 2025 (2025-05-16)
Running time	110 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$50 million[2]
Box office	$191.7 million[3][4]

After the commercial success of Final Destination 5, 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 $191.7 million worldwide, becoming the best-reviewed and highest-grossing installment in the franchise.

Plot

In 1968, Iris Campbell and her fiancé Paul attend the opening ceremony of the Sky View, a high-rise restaurant tower. At the dance party, Iris has a premonition of a chandelier's shard cracking the glass floor beneath the guests while a gas leak explodes, collapsing the tower and killing everyone.

In the present, Iris’s 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 her estranged 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 upbringing and became reclusive, causing Darlene to abandon the 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've 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 it from going after her family. Though Stefani is skeptical, Iris leaves the cabin to give her the book and allows herself to be impaled by a weather vane to prove her claims.

After Iris' funeral, Darlene returns, but Stefani resents her for being absent since childhood. Stefani reads Iris' book and sees a reference to a "JB", who found someone that defeated Death. During a family barbecue, a chain reaction causes Howard to be killed by a lawn mower. That night, another chain reaction causes a fire at Erik's tattoo shop, but he survives due to his leather clothing. Stefani and Charlie meet Erik on the road the following day to try and protect him, but Julia is then crushed to death by a garbage truck's compactor. The family realizes that Death is coming for them in order of age, starting with Howard's branch of the family before moving onto Darlene's. Marty and Brenda are spared, as they are not blood relatives, and Erik was spared due to being the result of Brenda's adultery and therefore not a member 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 two ways to defeat Death: taking another life^[a] or dying and being revived, citing Kimberly Corman as a successful example.^[b] 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 and drilled into Bobby's head. Despite Erik seemingly being safe, Stefani reasons that his intervention trying to help Bobby put him on the 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 with CPR.

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 into the neighborhood, and its cargo crushes and kills Stefani and Charlie.

Cast

Further information on individual characters: List of Final Destination characters

• Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Stefani Reyes, a college student haunted by nightmares of a 1968 tower collapse^[5][6]
• Teo Briones as Charlie Reyes, Stefani's younger brother^[7][6]
• Richard Harmon as Erik Campbell, one of Stefani's cousins^[7]
• Owen Patrick Joyner as Bobby Campbell, one of Stefani's cousins^[7]
• Rya Kihlstedt as Darlene Campbell, Stefani and Charlie's estranged mother and Iris's daughter^[7][6]
• Anna Lore as Julia Campbell, one of Stefani's cousins^[7]
• Gabrielle Rose as Iris Campbell, Stefani's grandmother who had a premonition in 1968^[8]
  • Brec Bassinger as a young Iris^[8]
• Tony Todd as William Bludworth^[5]
  • Jayden Oniah as a young William
• Tinpo Lee as Marty Reyes, Stefani's father^[8][6]
• April Telek as Brenda Campbell, Stefani's aunt^[8]
• Alex Zahara as Howard Campbell, Stefani's uncle and Iris's son^[8]
• Max Lloyd-Jones as Paul Campbell, Iris's husband^[8]
• Brenna Llewellyn as Val, Stefani's college roommate^[8]

Yvette Ferguson, Mark Brandon, Natasha Burnett, Travis Turner, Bernard Cuffling and Noah Bromley appear as survivors of the Sky View tower collapse.^[9][8]

Production

Filmmaker Jon Watts produced and conceived the story for the sixth installment, and chose directing duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein to helm the film from over 200 candidates.

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.^[10] 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.^[11][12] 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".^[13][14]

Tony Todd reprised his role as William Bludworth before his death in 2024.

In October 2021, Lori Evans Taylor was reported to be the new writer for the film.^[15] 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.^[16] That July, Reddick revealed the film would differ from the franchise's formula.^[17] 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.^[18] In September 2023, Todd officially signed on to reprise his role as William Bludworth. The film explores the character's backstory.^[19] Despite Todd's death in November 2024, Warner Bros. confirmed that he had shot all of his scenes for the film.^[20] In March 2024, it was announced that the film would be released in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures in 2025.^[21] Most of the cast was also revealed.^[22] 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.^[9]

Principal photography was scheduled to take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, from July to October 2023,^[23] but in mid-July, production was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.^[24] With Christian Sebaldt as cinematographer, filming instead took place in Vancouver from March 4 to May 13, 2024.^[21][25] Tim Wynn was hired to compose the score by December 2024.^[26]

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.

Final Destination Bloodlines (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by Tim Wynn
Released	May 16, 2025
Length	65:58
Label	Lakeshore Records
Final Destination soundtrack chronology
Final Destination 5 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2011) Final Destination Bloodlines (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2025)

Commercial songs from the film, but not on the soundtrack^[27]

• "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.^[28]

1. "Bloodlines (End Titles)" (1:45)
2. "Elevator Ride" (1:46)
3. "The MRI" (2:25)
4. "We Can't Give In" (1:46)
5. "Bludworth's Goodbye" (2:45)
6. "Bludworth" (2:43)
7. "Escape to the Compound" (1:36)
8. "Two of Us" (2:30)
9. "The Plan" (1:45)
10. "Waterworld" (2:44)
11. "Seeing is Believing" (1:50)
12. "The Skyview" (1:29)
13. "Lawnmower Man" (2:00)
14. "Drive to Iris" (1:34)
15. "Meet Bludworth" (1:08)
16. "I See You" (1:33)
17. "Decoding Iris' Book" (1:23)
18. "Connecting the Dots" (4:13)
19. "Resurrection" (3:19)
20. "I Screwed Up the Order" (3:03)
21. "Tower of Terror" (2:21)
22. "Tempting Death" (1:43)
23. "Technically You Weren't Dead" (1:15)
24. "Graveyard" (2:02)
25. "Recycling" (1:11)
26. "Your Plan is Nuts" (2:06)
27. "Premonition" (1:01)
28. "The Book" (1:42)
29. "Psycho Grandma" (1:46)
30. "The Collapse" (1:05)
31. "Look After Paco" (1:38)
32. "The Compound" (2:02)
33. "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.^[21][29] The movie was filmed for IMAX and was released in both IMAX and standard formats.^[30] 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.^[31] 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.^[32][33]

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 (behind New Line's It with 200 million views).^[34]

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.^[35]

Reception

Box office

As of May 29, 2025^[update], Final Destination Bloodlines has grossed $99.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $92.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $191.7 million.^[4][3]

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.^[36] The film made $21 million on its first day, including an estimated $5.5 million from Thursday night previews.^[37][38] It went on to debut to $51.6 million, finishing first at the box office.^[39] Its opening weekend was the biggest for the franchise, even adjusted for inflation,^[40] besting The Final Destination ($27.4 million opening weekend in 2009).^[41][38]

Critical response

The film became the best-reviewed installment in the franchise.^[42] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 187 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Adding some surprising emotional layers onto the ghoulish bones of Final Destination's mythology, Bloodlines ingeniously executes grisly set pieces with precision and turns impending doom into outrageous fun."^[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[44] 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.^[38]

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".^[45] 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".^[46]

Future

Stein noted that the narrative potential remains open-ended, stating: "Death's work is never done. There's always more scores to settle".^[47] He acknowledged, though, that the creative process takes several years.^[48] Perry also expressed openness to continuing the franchise, noting that Bloodlines has expanded the creative flexibility of the series.^[49]

Notes

1. As depicted in Final Destination 5 (2011)
2. As depicted in Final Destination 2 (2003)