One Hit Horror Franchise Is Absolutely Dominating HBO Max Right Now

HBO Max has horror. The recently renamed streamer is already home to The Conjuring Universe and the IT franchise, both of which have new installments on the way (new film The Conjuring: Last Rites in September and new series IT: Welcome to Derry in October, respectively). But there’s another iconic horror franchise that has cheated death to take the top spot on HBO Max, supplanting just-added vampire drama Sinners, comedy-horror Death of a Unicorn, and thriller Opus.

Final Destination Bloodlines, the sixth installment in the death-defying saga, is No. 1 on the HBO Max Top 10. The gory horror flick had an, ahem, short-lived run in theaters — it earned $285 million at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing installment in the 25-year-old franchise when it hit the big screen in May — before its August 1 debut on Max.

New Line’s Final Destination films also saw a boost in streaming since adding Bloodlines to the service: the original 2000 Final Destination is at #7, with 2011’s Final Destination 5 at #8 and 2003’s Final Destination 2 at #10. Only 2006’s Final Destination 3 and 2009’s The Final Destination (a.k.a. Final Destination 4) failed to enter the Top 10.

All six Final Destination movies are now available to stream in the same place as part of the HBO Max’s “Follow Death’s Design” collection, and Bloodlines debuted on HBO in a Final Destination marathon that aired on linear over the weekend.

The new movie centers on college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who is plagued by a violent recurring nightmare. Her premonitions lead her to her estranged grandmother, Iris (Brec Bassinger and Gabrielle Rose), a fellow visionary who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all. The cast includes Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Rya Kihlstedt, and the late Tony Todd, reprising his character as William Bludworth in his final on-screen role.

“Final Destination has proven itself that it can be relevant forever, and it has,” Adam Stein, who directed the latest installment in the long-dormant franchise with Zach Lipovsky, told ComicBook when asked about a potential Final Destination 7. “The format of it is so much fun that it can work in our film, or even in a period piece, which you wouldn’t necessarily have thought. Or, in this case, be all about a family.”