Final Destination’s Original Filmmakers Reveal Their One Regret After Fighting Against Studio Interference

Final Destination has become a staple of the horror genre, despite one weakness that the original creators actually regret. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, producer and co-writer Glen Morgan recalled that the studio executives wanted to have death personified in the film in some way, but he pushed back against this idea long with director and co-writer James Wong and co-writer Jeffrey Reddick. The movie became a massive success even with a distinct mascot like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, or Ghostface. However, in hindsight, Morgan joked that they’d all be wealthier now if the movie had some merchandising opportunities.

Reddick was the first writer on Final Destination, which is why he is credited with the story while Morgan and Wong are credited on the script along with him. Reddick recalled that New Line had originally asked him to create a distinct villainous figure for the movie, and he came up with the “Angel of Death.” This was in the script when Morgan and Wong came on board, eager for their first chance to work on movies instead of TV.

“It was kind of Death personified,” Morgan recalled. “We were both like, ‘You can’t see Death, and you can’t beat it?’ So we pitched, ‘Death’s just a force.’ And they [New Line] said, ‘Cool!’, much to our surprise. But now every Halloween I go, ‘We blew it!’ There’s no costume to buy, there’s no action figure.”

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Final Destination does seem to get lumped in with other horror movies of its era despite this major difference. Unique characters continue to dominate the horror genre to this day, from Samara in The Ring to the persistence of the haunted doll Annabelle. Of course, there’s no telling if Final Destination would have been as popular if it had a villain we could perceive, nor whether Morgan, Wong, and Reddick would have gotten a piece of that merchandising profit.

Still, visual references to the Final Destination series are pretty easy to recognize by their cascade of unlikely scenarios leading to a character’s death. It’s a style that has been parodied and mimicked a lot in the last 25 years, often earning comparisons to Rube Goldberg Machines.

Hopefully, Reddick, Morgan, and Wong will see some decent paychecks when Final Destination: Bloodlines hits theaters next month. The long-awaited sixth installment debuts on May 16th in the U.S. The previous movies in the series are streaming now on Max.