Jon Watts Will Produce HBO Max’s Final Destination 6
The massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home essentially guarantees that director Jon Watts can have his pick of whatever big-name franchise he wants to be a part of. But this latest news is not what we were expecting. According to Variety, Watts has signed on to produce the next entry in New Line’s long-running Final Destination series. And Final Destination 6 will have its world premiere on HBO Max.
New Line’s original Final Destination movie hit theaters way back in 2000 and centered on a group of teenagers, one of whom experienced a vision of his class dying in a plane crash. After escaping the plane with a handful of classmates, death seemingly hunts down the survivors one at a time, killing them off in gruesome ways. The film spawned four sequels, each of which introduced new groups of characters and featured deadly accidents ranging from car pile-ups to bridge collapses. Although the films have never been critical hits, they were all reliable earners at the box office.
In addition to producing Final Destination 6 with his wife, Dianne McGunigle, Watts also wrote the film’s story treatment. New Line has drafted Lori Evans Taylor (Wicked Wicked Games) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not) to turn this into a proper script. Longtime Final Destination producers Craig Perry and Sheila Hanahan Taylor are returning to the series as well.
“Both Dianne and I have been massive fans of Final Destination from the very beginning,” said Watts in a statement. “So to be able to have a hand in crafting a new story with the original team and New Line is going to be both fun and exciting.”
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“Jon and Dianne’s passion for the series is only matched by how much fun they are to work with,” added Perry. “Sheila and I couldn’t be more excited to have their creative energy driving this latest installment in the Final Destination franchise with New Line. With Guy and Lori’s inspired execution of Jon’s original idea, we have a movie that audiences are gonna love.”
Watts isn’t a stranger to the horror genre. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with Clown, which notably featured Eli Roth in a rare headlining role. Roth also produced the film. And Final Destination 6 isn’t the biggest project on Watts’ upcoming slate. Marvel also has him locked in to direct their highly-anticipated Fantastic Four reboot. But as far as we know, that movie doesn’t even have a writer lined up yet. And it also remains to be seen whether Watts will helm any more Spider-Man movies starring Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.
HBO Max hasn’t announced a release date for Final Destination 6.
How do you feel about Watts reviving the Final Destination franchise? Give us your impressions in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Final Destination 2
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