Tony Todd Claims a ‘Final Destination’ Sequel Too Expensive to Make Happen

Horror icon and former The Flash and Riverdale guest star Tony Todd thinks the Final Destination franchise may have breathed its last breath for a while, since the films are prohibitively expensive to produce when compared to what they earn in theaters.

During a conversation with Bloody Disgusting, Todd said that the franchise — in which he has appeared several times as a coroner who explains the premise to the heroes — is a harder sell than fans might think, considering the massive windfall that some inexpensive horror franchises have been raking in over the last decade.

“I am [surprised] but I know why there hasn’t been [another sequel],” Todd said. “It’s really an expensive film to shoot. Just getting whatever accident set pieces, like for example part two with the whole traffic accident, that took a good five weeks to shoot and at least 20 million bucks. So there are other films like the Annabelle films which just focuses on a doll that they can shoot for a lot cheaper and still make money.”

The Final Destination franchise began in 2000, and ended in 2011 after five installments. Each film would center on a new group of teens who would manage to cheat death after one of them had a vision of a tragedy to come (an airline crash, an accident on a roller coaster, etc.). The universe would then step in, acting as a kind of ethereal slasher, stalking them with absurd and elaborate accidents until the cosmic balance was paid.

Todd appeared in the first, second, and fifth Final Destination movies, as well as having a voice-over cameo in Final Destination 3. The fifth movie, Final Destination 3-D, was one of a number of attempts to cash in on the post-Avatar 3-D craze, and one of the biggest-budget horror movies to do so.

Todd can be seen next in Hell Fest, from The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd. The film will be available on DVD tomorrow. That film takes place on Halloween night, as a masked serial killer turns a horror-themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.

Todd will also appear in The Final Wish, from Final Destination creator Jeffrey Reddick, later this month.