Final Destination 5


Final Destination 5 is a 2011 American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer. It is the fifth installment in the Final Destination film series and a prequel to Final Destination. Nicholas D'Agosto stars as a young man who has a premonition about a suspension bridge collapsing, and saves a group of people from Death, only to learn that they cannot escape its plan. Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, and Tony Todd star in supporting roles.
Despite The Final Destination being announced as the final film in the franchise, that film's financial success led to the development of a fifth installment, which began in 2010. Filming took place in Vancouver, as with the first three installments. It is the second film in the franchise to be shot in 3D.
Final Destination 5 was theatrically released on August 12, 2011, and on DVD on December 27, 2011, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $157 million worldwide, becomingas of 2025the third highest-grossing film in the franchise. A sixth film, Final Destination Bloodlines, was released in May 2025.

Plot

Office worker Sam Lawton is heading to a company retreat with his colleagues. While crossing the North Bay Bridge, he has a premonition of the bridge collapsing due to high winds, killing everyone except for his ex-girlfriend Molly Harper. He panics and convinces Molly, his friend and boss Peter Friedkin, Peter's girlfriend Candice Hooper, his manager Dennis Lapman, factory manager Nathan Sears and colleagues Olivia Castle and Isaac Palmer to get off the bridge. Afterwards, the bridge collapses. FBI agent Jim Block suspects Sam of foul play. Still, Sam is cleared when Block's colleague determines the collapse was not man-made. Sam and his colleagues also meet mortician William Bludworth, who warns them that "Death doesn't like to be cheated".
Later, Candice dies from a freak accident during gymnastics practice, causing Peter to become unstable. Following Candice's death, womanizer Isaac is fatally crushed by a Budai statue during a spa treatment, after a fire breaks out and causes the shelf holding the statue to break. Present at the aftermath of both deaths, Bludworth tells them that Death is killing them because they survived a disaster they were supposed to die in, creating "wrinkles in reality". Molly, however, was meant to survive in the collapse and thus was not a part of Death's plan that threatened the other survivors. To survive, they must kill someone to steal their remaining lifespan. Sam and Molly fail to save Olivia, who falls through a window after a malfunctioning laser eye surgery machine mutilates her right eye. Sam realizes that the survivors are dying in the order they would have died in the bridge collapse and discovers that Nathan is next.
During a workplace argument, Nathan accidentally kills his coworker Roy Carson. When the other survivors hear this, they deduce that Nathan must have stolen Roy's lifespan. Sam realizes that Dennis would be next on the list when, suddenly, a machine launches a wrench into Dennis's face, killing him. That evening, Sam and Molly rekindle their relationship at a restaurant. They are interrupted by Peter, who seeks to steal Molly's lifespan, resenting her for being destined to survive the collapse. Agent Block intervenes but is shot by Peter, who steals his lifespan. Despite this, Peter tries to kill Molly to eliminate witnesses, but is saved by Sam, who impales and kills Peter with a meat spit. After Peter's gun misfires and misses Sam, he concludes that Peter stole Block's lifespan.
Two weeks later, Sam and Molly board a plane to Paris and witness six high school students and a teacher being escorted out, revealing that it is Volée Airlines Flight 180. Upon takeoff, Sam overhears that one of the students panicked after having a vision of the plane exploding, resulting in their removal. Sam and Molly realize it is too late as the plane explodes, killing everyone aboard. Meanwhile, at a memorial for Roy, Nathan learns from a co-worker that Roy had an undiagnosed brain aneurysm and that he could have died at any moment if he had lived. As Nathan realizes the implications, the landing gear from Flight 180 crushes him.

Cast

Production

Development

, the head of Warner Bros., confirmed at ShoWest in March 2010 that Final Destination 5 was in works at ShoWest. Producer Craig Perry later added that the film would be shot in 3D. Eric Heisserer was announced as screenwriter in April 2010. The studio initially picked August 26, 2011, as the release date, but later changed it to August 12, 2011. In June 2010, New Line Cinema announced that Steven Quale would direct, and that the movie would be renamed 5nal Destination. The name change was reversed only a few months later.

Writing

According to Heisserer, Final Destination 5 was always meant to be a prequel, set before the first film; the idea having come from franchise producer Craig Perry. Heisserer said that one major problem he encountered while writing the film was coming up with good death sequences, believing that managing to do so in the world of Final Destination is "ridiculously hard". The inspiration for Olivia Castle's death sequence involving LASIK eye surgery came after his wife underwent the same type of surgery.

Casting

In August 2010, actor and musician Miles Fisher was the first to be cast in the film as Peter Friedkin. Fisher had appeared in numerous short films and in a small role in the comedy film Superhero Movie. Fisher said during an interview that "I've done a little bit of television and a little bit of film, but 3D is almost an entirely different sport." Three days after Fisher's casting, Arlen Escarpeta was cast in the film as Nathan Sears. Escarpeta explained that "I think what they're going to do really, really well this time around, they're going to go back—the story, the plot, a lot of stuff is really going to matter, I think the last movie it was just death. It was death, death, death, which is fine because that's what people want to see. But this time we're going to give them a little bit of everything – good story, great director—it's going to be good."
In late August 2010, Nicholas D'Agosto was cast to portray the film's main visionary, Sam Lawton. D'Agosto had recently starred in the 2007 comedy film Rocket Science before he was cast in the film after his appearance in Fired Up! since 2009. Along with D'Agosto, newcomer actress Ellen Wroe joined the cast as Candice Hooper. One day later, Tony Todd, who portrayed William Bludworth from the first two installments, returned to join the film's cast after not appearing in the fourth film due to scheduling commitments to work on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. On August 30, 2010, the production hired David Koechner and P. J. Byrne to join the cast. Koechner portrays the characters' company executive Dennis Lapman while Byrne, after his appearance in Dinner for Schmucks, portrays Isaac Palmer. Emma Bell, who made her major film debut appearance in the 2010 thriller film Frozen, was cast on September 2 to co-lead with D'Agosto as Molly Harper. In mid-September, both Courtney B. Vance and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood are the last main cast members to join the film. Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Vance plays FBI agent Jim Block while Wood, who is starring as Steffy Forrester in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, portrays co-worker Olivia Castle.

Filming

Location filming returned to Vancouver, where parts of the first three films were shot. Principal photography took place between September 13 and December 14, 2010. Producers stated that this installment would be darker and more suspenseful in the style of the original film. Final Destination 3 star Chelan Simmons revealed that the opening scene would be filmed on the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. The film was shot with the then-newly released Arri Alexa digital camera.

Music

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to Final Destination 5 was released on August 16, 2011, by Varèse Sarabande, four days after the release of the film. The soundtrack contains 19 tracks composed by Brian Tyler, music composer of The Final Destination. Miles Fisher also released a tie-in video for his single "New Romance" which features the key actors in the film in a Saved by the Bell parody in which most are killed in freak accidents, in keeping with the series.
Commercial songs from the film, but not on the soundtrack
  1. "Main Title"
  2. "Fates Bridge"
  3. "Repercussions"
  4. "Kill or Be Killed"
  5. "Cheating Death"
  6. "Bludworth"
  7. "Death's Work"
  8. "Olivia"
  9. "Eye Can't See No Good"
  10. "The Gift Certificate"
  11. "Meet the Gang"
  12. "Hook in Mouth"
  13. "Isaac's Got a Point"
  14. "Recognition"
  15. "Mystery"
  16. "Bend Over Backwards"
  17. "The Order of Death"
  18. "Plans Within Plans"
  19. "Infinite Finale"

    Release

Marketing

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK ruled that the original theatrical poster, which had been used on buses and trains during the summer, "was likely to cause fear and undue distress to children". It ruled that the advert must not appear in the original form again.
Warner Bros. countered by stating that the poster "accurately reflected the content of the film in an appropriate manner without causing excessive fear or distress". They also added that the poster's dark grey and black colors were "unlikely to engage the attention of young children", and that the "surreal" image did not feature people, blood, or display any real-life violence.
The ASA, which had received 13 complaints, with three stating that their children had been upset, ruled "We considered the image was likely to catch the attention of children, especially because it was shown on a poster on the Underground, where it was an untargeted medium. Because very young children might view this ad depicting violence, it was likely to cause fear and undue distress to children."