Jon Watts, director of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, is producing the sixth film in the Final Destination franchise with Dianne McGunigle, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, and Craig Perry – and entertainment industry scooper Daniel Richtman just revealed the plot synopsis for the new film, along with some character descriptions and the title, which isn’t going to be Final Destination 6. This one is going by the title Final Destination: Bloodlines, which is kind of bummer because Bloodlines is a very over-used subtitle in the horror world. To name just a few, we’ve previously gotten Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines, Tremors 5: Bloodlines, and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.
But there is good reason for the Bloodlines subtitle, because family bloodlines are important to the story. Jeffrey Reddick – who wrote the initial screenplay for the original Final Destination and contributed to Final Destination 2 – has previously said that the new movie will be shaking up the formula and expanding the universe. The synopsis reveals how: Just as she’s about to leave home for college, 18 year old STEFANI, who’s been having horrific nightmares about dying in a tower accident in the 1960s, discovers that her dream is actually a premonition that happened to her grandmother, Esther, who thwarted death fifty years ago but is now running out of time. Stefani learns that though her grandmother thwarted Death (until she died in her 80s), and Death has been going after the would-have-been victims of that long-ago catastrophe, killing them off and then going after their children. Stefani and her family realize that their bloodline isn’t safe from Death, who will take them violently and gruesomely, in order, unless someone like Stefani figures out a way to stop it.
This is the first time Death was so slow to start claiming victims that they were able to spawn a couple more generations that need to be knocked off as well. This set-up also really disproves the “Death is thwarted by new life” theory from the first film’s deleted original ending.
According to Richtman’s information, New Line Cinema is aiming to get Final Destination: Bloodlines into production in Vancouver next year. The film will be directed by the duo of Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, who previously directed the 2018 film Freaks (starring Emile Hirsch and Bruce Dern) and the 2019 live-action Kim Possible movie. Oddly, Richtman’s info has Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan listed as writers. Melton and Dunstan were working on the film at one point, but their story was said to deal with first responders and was set aside when Watts came on board with his idea. Last we heard, the Watts treatment was being turned into a screenplay by Lori Evans Taylor and Guy Busick.
Here are the character descriptions:
STEFANI LEWIS: Smart. grounded, ambitious, Stefani is about to leave her working class hometown and head off for University. Close to her younger POC brother Charlie, Stefani feels bad that Charlie has been moody and angry at her lately, probably because she’s going to be leaving him, just like their mom did. When Stefani learns the truth about the nightmares that have been plaguing her, she realizes that her grandmother Esther was telling them the truth about Death coming for the relatives in their bloodline, and she decides to do everything in her power to keep her family safe.
CHARLIE: Gangly, bright, Charlie is Stefan is younger brother. Normally very close to Stef, he’s grown moody and angry at her as her departure for college draws near, hating the fact that she’s going to be leaving him just like their mom did. When Stefani discovers the bizarre truth about Death coming for their family because their grandmother Esther thwarted it years ago, Charlie thinks the whole thing is nuts. But he has a huge respect for Stefani, and as she studies the manual their grandmother gave her before she died, Charlie realizes that Stefani understands what’s going on, and eventually he comes to believe it, too.
BOBBY: Huge, good hearted, and anxious, Bobby is a high school football linebacker and Julia and Derek’s brother, Stefani and Charlie’s cousin. Sweet and vulnerable despite not being too bright, Bobby is the only one of the family who’s immediately terrified by Stefani’s account of Grandma Esther’s story, that Death is going to come after their family in birth order. A frightened Bobby is willing to try anything to thwart Death.
DEREK: A walking collection of piercings, tattoos and smarm, defiant and a bit crude, full of ego, usually seen with a vape pen, Derek is Bobby and Julia’s brother, Stefani and Charlie’s cousin. A tattoo and piercing artist, Derek absolutely does not believe cousin Stefani’s story that their family is doomed to be chased by Death and killed before their time, and he’s gleeful when he appears to prove her wrong by escaping what should have been a fatal situation. (Producer Craig Perry has confirmed there’s a sequence set in a tattoo / piercing parlor.)
ESTHER: Grandmother to Stefani.
JULIA: Bougie tomboy desperately trying to be stylish, snarky, Julia is Bobby and Derek’s sister, Stefani and Charlie’s cousin. She doesn’t like Stefani, believing that Stefani feels she’s superior to her cousins, and loves to show Stefani how much better of a role model she is for Charlie. Like the rest of the family, Julia doesn’t believe Stefani’s bizarre story of how their grandmother Esther thwarted death fifty years ago, and now Death is coming after everyone in Esther’s bloodline in order; in fact, Julia enjoys seeing Stefani brought down a peg when her own mother refuses to believe it.
Casting director Rich Delia is currently assembling the cast. We’ve previously heard that Tony Todd will be reprising the role of mortician Bludworth in Final Destination: Bloodlines.
How does this Final Destination: Bloodlines information sound to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.