Final Destination 5

Sam Lawton works at Presage Paper and cooks on the side at a French restaurant, Le Cafe Miro 81. He has a shot at an apprenticeship in Paris. On the morning of the company retreat, his girlfriend Molly Harper breaks up with him because his plans for Paris leave her out. The rest of the group boards the bus too: Sam's best friend and boss Peter Friedkin; Peter's girlfriend Candice Hooper, an intern and gymnast; Olivia Castle, Candice's rival in the office; Isaac Palmer, a sleazy coworker who hits on Molly; their manager Dennis Lapman; and factory manager Nathan Sears, who is having trouble with a worker named Roy Carson.

As the bus crosses the North Bay Bridge, where road crews are working, Sam has a vision. High winds and construction damage bring the bridge down. Candice is impaled on a sailboat mast. Isaac goes into the water with the bus. Olivia, without her glasses, falls and is crushed by a falling car. Nathan is knocked off the bridge. Hot tar hits Dennis. Peter is impaled by falling rebar, and Sam is cut in half by a sheet of metal while reaching for Molly, the one person he gets across safely.

Sam comes out of it and starts seeing the details from his vision. He gets Molly off the bus and the others follow him. The bridge collapses and everyone who stayed on board dies. FBI Agent Jim Block suspects Sam, but another agent finds the collapse was not man-made. At the memorial, coroner William Bludworth tells the survivors that Death does not like to be cheated.

At gymnastics practice, with Peter watching, Candice gets past a loose screw on the balance beam and a fan cord in a puddle. Then another gymnast steps on the screw and knocks over a bowl of chalk. A fan blows the chalk into Candice's face in the middle of a flip. She lets go, lands on her neck, and her body folds backward. Peter falls apart.

Isaac finds a coupon for a massage at a Chinese spa. Left alone with acupuncture needles in his back, he watches a burning incense tip start a fire. He rolls off the table and drives the needles deeper. His vibrating phone knocks a candle into spilled alcohol. He backs against a wall just as a Buddha statue falls from a shelf and crushes his head. Bludworth is there afterward. He tells them there is one way out: kill someone else and take that person's remaining years. Molly was never on Death's list, because Sam got her off the bridge in his vision.

Olivia goes in for laser eye surgery. The doctor leaves her strapped in. A water cooler spills onto the machine's cord and the laser burns her eye and hand. She breaks free, trips on a glass eye that popped off her teddy bear, and goes through the window. She lands on a car below and her remaining eye rolls into the street. Sam works out that they are dying in the order they died in his vision, so Nathan is next.

At the factory, Nathan argues with Roy. A crane hook swings loose and Nathan shoves Roy out of the way by accident. Roy falls and the hook goes through his jaw. The group decides Nathan took Roy's life and is off the list. Dennis is next. While he questions them about Roy, a wrench left on a machine is thrown into his face and kills him.

That night Sam gets the Paris job, and his boss lets him have the restaurant to make dinner for Molly. Peter shows up. He admits he tried to push a woman into traffic that day and could not do it. He blames Molly for Candice's death because Molly was saved. He knocks Sam out with a gun and hunts Molly through the kitchen. Agent Block arrives and Peter shoots him dead, taking his years. Peter still goes after Molly so there will be no witnesses. Sam wakes up and drives a meat skewer through Peter's back. Later, Peter's gun, left on the burning stove, goes off and just misses Sam. Sam figures he now has Block's life.

Two weeks later Sam and Molly board a flight to Paris. A group of high school students and a teacher get thrown off after one boy panics. It is Volee Airlines Flight 180. A flight attendant says the boy had some kind of vision. The plane catches fire on takeoff. Molly is pulled out through a hole in the cabin and cut in half, and Sam burns as the plane explodes. At Roy's memorial in a bar, a coworker tells Nathan that Roy had a brain aneurysm and could have died any day, so the life Nathan took was almost used up. Before he can take that in, Flight 180's burning landing gear crashes through the roof and crushes him.

Story notes

• Sam Lawton foresees the collapse of a suspension bridge and saves several coworkers.
• As Death pursues them, Bludworth introduces a possible rule involving taking another person's remaining lifespan.

Release facts

• Released: 2011-08-12 (premiered August 4, 2011 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal)
• Rated: R (for strong violent/gruesome accidents, and some language)

The film premiered at Fantasia in Montreal on August 4, 2011 and opened August 12, 2011 in 3-D and 2-D. It came in third its first weekend with $18.0 million (reported at $18.4 million from estimates), behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Help. That was the third-best opening in the series at the time.

It made $42,587,643 domestic and about $115.3 million overseas, for $157,887,643 worldwide. About 73 percent came from outside the US. Russia/CIS led with $19.3 million, then France $9.3 million, the UK $8.8 million and Germany $7.7 million. It is the third highest-grossing film in the series.

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority banned the original poster from being shown again in that form after 13 complaints, three from parents of children aged 1 to 3. The poster had run on buses, trains and the Underground. Warner Bros. argued it showed no people or blood.

Critics liked it much better than the fourth film. Rotten Tomatoes has 64% from 137 reviews, average 5.9 out of 10, with a consensus calling it a surprising return to form. Metacritic gives it 50 from 24 critics. It was the best-reviewed film in the series until Bloodlines. CinemaScore audiences gave it a B-plus. Todd Gilchrist of Boxoffice Magazine called it the best 3-D horror movie ever made. Critics singled out the bridge collapse; The Hollywood Reporter called the opening undeniably spectacular. In 2017 Bloody Disgusting's John Squires called it the best sequel in the series.

Press and marketing

• Theatrical key-art / poster campaign reference: IMP Awards — Final Destination 5 poster archive.

Cast

Crew

Production

The Final Destination was supposed to be the last film, but it made enough money that Warner Bros. head Alan Horn announced a fifth film at ShoWest in March 2010. Craig Perry said it would be in 3-D. Eric Heisserer was hired to write it in April 2010. In June 2010 New Line named Steven Quale director and said the title would be 5nal Destination. That was dropped a few months later. The release date moved from August 26, 2011 to August 12, 2011.

Heisserer said it was always going to be a prequel set before the first film, an idea that came from producer Craig Perry. He got the idea for Olivia's death after his wife had LASIK surgery, and later tweeted that he got the job with two words: LASIK surgery. He said coming up with good deaths for this series was ridiculously hard.

Quale had worked with James Cameron since The Abyss and was second unit director on Titanic and Avatar. He said he got hired the day after his meeting and had to put together his cinematographer and production designer right away because the film was already behind schedule.

Miles Fisher was cast first, in August 2010. Arlen Escarpeta followed three days later. Nicholas D'Agosto and newcomer Ellen Wroe joined in late August, and Tony Todd signed a day later, back as Bludworth after missing the fourth film. David Koechner and P.J. Byrne were added August 30 and Emma Bell on September 2. Courtney B. Vance and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood came on in mid-September. The Final Destination Wiki, citing E! News, says Meghan Ory was first cast as Olivia but had to leave because of her show True Justice.

Principal photography ran September 13 to December 14, 2010 in and around Vancouver, where the first three films were made. Final Destination 3 star Chelan Simmons was the one who let slip that the opening would use the Lions Gate Bridge. The producers said this one would be darker, closer to the first film.

It was shot in native 3-D on Arri Alexa cameras supplied through Pace. Quale said they were among the first productions to get the Alexa, which gave a 35mm film look with shallow focus. Changing a lens on the 3-D rigs took about ten minutes instead of a couple.

For the bridge, Quale shot aerial plates of the Lions Gate Bridge, then built pieces of the bridge. Prime Focus's Chad Wiebe described three builds: a large paved section on a mountainside outside Vancouver overlooking the water, filled with cars; an elevated section for dropping cars and hanging actors; and a section on a hydraulic gimbal that could tilt and lower. Quale said previs ran in 18-hour days for two weeks, with 50-foot Technocranes and 200-foot towers planned in the computer. Wiebe said previs ran about eight weeks before shooting.

Dread Central's set visit caught the crew on the tilting bridge piece shooting Dennis's death in the vision, where a tar kettle spills on him. Craig Perry said they built the sequences so you could not tell when they were not on the real bridge. A test screening was held in Los Angeles on April 6, 2011. Heisserer tweeted that one scene was so disturbing everyone looked away from the monitors except the guy from Fangoria.

Director Steven Quale used detailed previsualization and native 3-D staging to make the bridge's height, narrow beams and falling debris part of the suspense design.

Prime Focus used a lidar scan of the real bridge as a starting point, then reconciled its digital model with three differently scaled physical set sections.

The bridge shoot used a large paved mountainside set, an elevated section for falls and dangling actors, and a tilting section mounted on a gimbal.

Chad Wiebe reported approximately eight weeks of previsualization before the bridge shoot, which lasted about two months.

Eric Legare’s bridge rig combined hand animation with simulations; Jon Mitchell’s effects team used Thinking Particles for structural destruction and FumeFX for additional detail.

The bridge crowd included approximately 80 digital doubles. Motion capture provided a starting point, with animation adjusted to the bridge’s movement.

Prime Focus used Naiad for water impacts and linked it with 3ds Max through Frost and Krakatoa; this was the studio’s first project using Naiad.

Wiebe reported just over 130 shots, roughly 70 artists and eight to nine months of work including previsualization.

Filming locations

• Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, British Columbia: Aerial plates and reference for the North Bay Bridge
• Paved bridge set on a mountainside outside Vancouver: Main North Bay Bridge collapse set with cars
• Ballard Power Systems, 9000 Glenlyon Parkway, Burnaby: Presage Paper offices
• 4300 North Fraser Way, Burnaby: Presage interiors
• Catalyst Paper Corporation: Factory where Roy and Dennis die
• The Fish Shack, 1026 Granville Street, Vancouver: Le Cafe Miro 81
• Alexander Gastown, 58 Alexander Street, Vancouver: Ming Yun spa where Isaac dies
• Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre, University of British Columbia: Gymnastics practice
• The bridge-collapse sequence used multiple purpose-built bridge sections near Vancouver, including a large paved section overlooking the water.

Effects and makeup

Toby Lindala led the makeup effects. On set he said 3-D and the higher resolution raised the bar on quality. The crew had gone through 15 to 20 gallons of blood by the time of Dread Central's visit, with more than 30 expected by the end. Quale said he was a fan of believable effects and wanted practical makeup wherever he could.

Prime Focus in Vancouver did the bridge collapse, just over 130 shots, with about 70 artists over eight to nine months counting previs. They lidar scanned the real bridge and fit their digital model to the three physical set pieces.

Eric Legare built the bridge rig with hand animation and simulations. Jon Mitchell's effects team used Thinking Particles for the destruction and FumeFX for dust and debris. About 80 digital doubles were made from scans of actors and extras, starting from motion capture and adjusted to the bridge's movement with cloth and hair simulation.

Water was done in Naiad, linked into 3ds Max with Frost and Krakatoa for splashes and foam. It was the studio's first project with Naiad and the biggest technical hurdle. Nuke was used for environments and compositing.

The Flight 180 ending mixes new shots with used and unused footage from the first film. The Blu-ray has before-and-after reels for both the bridge and the plane crash.

Production built several bridge pieces for the opening, including an elevated section for vehicle drops and a gimbaled bridge section that could physically tilt and lower beneath the actors.

The bridge sequence was previsualized for roughly eight weeks before photography.

Digital destruction extended the practical bridge sets and handled large-scale structural collapse and digital doubles.

Props and costumes

Jori Woodman designed the costumes, with Marco Pimenta as costume supervisor. Bryan Korenberg was property master under production designer David Sandefur.

The film is set in 1999, so the props lean on older tech: big clunky cell phones, bulky computer monitors, and a spa coupon dated 2000. Dialogue name-drops The Sixth Sense and Lisa Loeb.

The company bus is number 1282.

The opening title sequence throws objects from earlier deaths at the screen in 3-D, including tanning bed bulbs, a ladder, knives, nails with 3-D glasses, a flying tire and a Route 23 log.

Jori Woodman returned as costume designer, with Marco Pimenta supervising costumes, while Bryan Korenberg served as property master under production designer David Sandefur. The film's corporate-retreat, construction-site, restaurant, spa and medical worlds therefore had distinct wardrobe and prop systems rather than a single generic contemporary look.

Sandefur's bridge build treated the disaster environment itself as an enormous practical prop system: paved deck sections, railings, vehicles and breakaway structural pieces were built in multiple configurations, including an elevated deck and a hydraulically gimbaled section that could physically tilt beneath the performers.

A 2011 set visit documented the makeup-effects team's preference for practical blood and physical gore elements wherever possible, with stereoscopic staging used to hold implements and blood-bearing props into audience space instead of replacing them wholesale with CGI.

Production artifacts

Art and design

• The IMP Awards primary one-sheet credits Ignition and LA for design and Cullin Tobin for photography.

Scripts and documents

The killers

Deaths

The premonition

The disaster: North Bay Bridge collapse

Death design

• North Bay Bridge survivor order
• lifespan-transfer theory
• Flight 180 prequel reveal

Brian Tyler scored the film, his second in the series.

Final Destination 5 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) came out August 16, 2011 on Varese Sarabande: 19 tracks, 68:58. Tracks: Main Title; Fates Bridge; Repercussions; Kill or Be Killed; Cheating Death; Bludworth; Death's Work (10:12); Olivia; Eye Can't See No Good; The Gift Certificate; Meet the Gang; Hook in Mouth; Isaac's Got a Point; Recognition; Mystery; Bend Over Backwards; The Order of Death; Plans Within Plans; Infinite Finale.

Songs in the film but not on the album: Dust in the Wind by Kansas; I Will Buy You a New Life by Everclear; Successful Leader by Jeff Tymoschuk; Ballroom and Girl on the Run by Terry Poison; Walk Like Water by Cliff P. deMarks Jr.; Me, Myself and I by Excellence; The Orbiting Suns by Jens Gad; If You Want Blood (You've Got It) by AC/DC.

Before release Miles Fisher put out a music video for his song New Romance, directed by Dave Green. It stars the main cast in a Saved by the Bell parody where most of them die in freak accidents, and it slips in a clue about the film. Fisher plays a Zack Morris type.

Soundtrack releases

Home Media

• 2011 DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, December 27, 2011 (UK December 26). Blu-ray came as a movie-only disc and as a Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet combo. Video 1080p AVC 2.40:1; English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with French, Spanish and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1.
• Extras: Circle of Death (6 min), on why The Final Destination was not really the end; Alternate Death Scenes (16 min); Visual Effects of Death: Collapsing Bridge (9 min) and Airplane Crash (3 min), both split-screen before-and-after reels; UltraViolet digital copy.
• 2011 Blu-ray 3D three-disc combo, December 27, 2011, sold as a Best Buy exclusive in the US: 3-D disc, 2-D Blu-ray with the extras, DVD and UltraViolet. In the UK only the special edition Blu-ray had the 3-D version.
• 2012 Warner Bros. two-disc Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray wide release, October 16, 2012. MVC 3-D, 2.40:1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, digital copy.
• Home video sales came to about $10.5 million.
• Later box sets: the Final Destination 5-Film Collection DVD (Warner, October 20, 2015) and the 5-Film Collection Blu-ray (Canada, June 14, 2022).

• Final Destination 5 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Varese Sarabande CD and digital, 2011.
• New Romance music video and single by Miles Fisher, 2011.
• Four theatrical posters: a skull with rebar through the eyes and mouth (the one the UK ASA banned), a bridge poster with Sam and Molly over a half skull, a cast poster with Olivia, Nathan, Sam, Molly and Peter, and a half skull with a 5 through the eye sockets.
• 2011 theatrical prize pack from Warner Bros. through Dread Central: gym duffel, distressed cap with patch, sports towel, iPhone 4 skin, Micro Swipes, shot glasses and a scythe-and-skull teaser poster.
• 2011 Final Destination 5 promotional T-shirt carrying the film logo, release date and campaign graphics, preserved in the collector market.

The catalog

Trailers & clips

Gallery

Posters & Key Art

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Press & Promo

Effects