Moviehole caught up with writers Eric Bress and Jeffrey Riddick in L.A to ask what led them back to the Final Destination series.
Riddick, the creator of the series, and Bress, who wrote Final Destination 2, reunite for the three-dimensional (!) The Final Destination.
This time, a teen whose premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps saves the lives of his peers soon discovers death is out to collect those who evaded their end.
How do you manage to keep this franchise fresh?
JR : Eric - who was the writer on 2 and 4 - and I always tried to bring something new to [The Final Destination], whilst not straying too far from the formula. Some of the things we do differently with each movie is the clues, and how they find out who might or might not be next [to die]. In one version of the script we had musical cues - every time they heard a song, it meant they were going to die. But it wasn't very visual, and it wasn't very extensive, so it just didn't work. Those are the kinds of things we overlay on top of the general structure - big opening set piece, someone saves their bacon, then they're one-by-one hunted down by death. I think the biggest difference with this one is that it's in 3-D.
Was 3D ever a possibility for the earlier sequels or...
EB : ... There was talk at one stage making [Final Destination 3] in 3-D. But there was no money to do it, and there were not enough screens that could play 3-D movies. We decided we were definitely going to do it for this one though - and right from the bat! I mean 3-D was in the title ‘Final Destination 4 : Death Trip in 3-D!', so we couldn't go back on that again.
Immediately we began talking about what we could do in 3-D. I remember we were talking at one stage of doing a scene where someone is hit by a street sign - and the two parts of the person's head is split apart! And we wondering what it would be like if, you were still alive, and you could see one half of your head swinging that way, and one half of your head swinging that way! Then we realized that the technology isn't there yet - and you don't want to put too much into the eye; you don't want people to throw up!
JR : We also wanted to strategically place 3D things into the movie. You don't want it to be things that just coming at you all the time. If that hallway really feels like its stretching out in front of you, then it feels like you're really there.
Eric, you did The Butterfly Effect, Final Destination 2, now this - what happened in your life that made you go this way? [Laughs] I mean, there does seem to be a bit of a theme here...
JR : How long do we have? [Laughs]
EB : In the early 90s my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was terrible. I remember I wrote my name on a piece of paper [Eric Bress] and stuck it on the refrigerator, and I would look at it several times a day, thinking of things I could do to myself - asking, what would take the pain away? For about a year I lived in this bubble of dread - which I intentionally put myself in, to make sure I didn't miss anything. I remember I was in a car wash one day and thought ‘Okay, what could go wrong in here?'. I didn't care if anything did, I just wondered what could happen. In some ways, I wanted something to happen. Suddenly my car starts jerking and lifting up... and comes off the rail ! The big rotary brushes had got into the bike rack on top of my car and was grinding it... and lifting it up... and there was nowhere to go. It took a while before the attendants came out and turned off the machine and rescued me. And I guess that's how Final Destination came to be. The stuff in the film isn't that far-fetched...
Speaking of, did you guys hear about the woman that missed the doomed Air France flight but was later killed in a car crash?
JR : Yeah, and it's a real conflict - you're like ‘Wow, that's so cool' but then you realize just how terrible and horrible it is. You don't take satisfaction from it but it feels good to know you're tapping into something that everybody feels. The franchise has become so much a part of the vernacular that people are calling occurrences like that a ‘Final Destination moment'.
Do you believe that everyone has their Final Destination?
EB : For me, I think that whatever you put out in the world will come back to you. And I think that also applies to both good and bad.
Can you talk about casting the film?
JR : Sure. We met with a huge group of young actors - and you see a core group of girls, and a core group of guys. You have them read opposite each other and see how has chemistry. With Bobby [Campo] and Shantel [VanSanten], it felt like they'd been dating for a long time - as opposed to some other screen couples where it feels like speed dating. We wanted to feel a couple had immediate attraction, rather than that old-hand comfort. That's what we were looking for. They were good actors, and fresh-faces, but mainly, the fact that they had legitimate chemistry was what got them the job.
Is it a must to have unknowns in these movies do you think?
JR : In the case of our Final Destination films, we realize that the star is the idea of the movie. I take it as an opportunity to provide these young actors a real big break. This is a huge studio movie. And I don't have to be saddled with the necessity of having to hire a name actor. That's kinda refreshing. You can cast any number of actors and give them their shot. That would never happen on any other franchise. I think the Final Destination franchise is a boon to young actors - it gives them form to show their stuff.
- CLINT MORRIS, ASHLEY HILLARD.
