Final Destination (2000)

"We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast. But when we say this, we imagine that the hour is placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun, or that death could arrive this same afternoon - this afternoon which is so certain, and which has every hour filled in advance."

Final Destination is an American horror film of the supernatural thriller subgenre. It was directed James Wong and written by Wong and longtime collaborator Glen Morgan based on a story by Jeffrey Reddick. The film was produced by New Line Cinema and released theatrically in the United States on March 17th, 2000. It is the first installment in a film series that has to date, spawned four sequels. It is followed by Final Destination 2, which was released in 2002. Final Destination stars Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Chad E. Donella, Amanda Detmer and Seann William Scott, as well as a guest appearance by horror icon Tony Todd as the enigmatic funeral home director, Bludworth. The premise of the film centers a group of students preparing to disembark to a High School class trip to Paris, France. Devon Sawa's character, Alex Browning, has a premonition that something terrible is going to happen on the flight and convinces several of his friends as well as a teacher to get off the plane. Alex's vision proves to be hauntingly accurate however as Flight 180 explodes in the sky above them. Death will not be cheated however. The whims of Fate know that Alex and his friends were destined to die on Flight 180 and sets into motion a string of events to correct this existential oversight.

Notes & Trivia
Production on Final Destination commenced in March of 1999 and concluded in December of 1999.

James Wong and Glen Morgan originally conceived the plot for Final Destination as an episode of their cult hit series The X-Files. The story ultimately went unused however until Wong and Morgan recycled it several years later as a feature film.

Final Destination grossed $10,015,822 at the box office over the March 17th-18th weekend, ranking at number 3 in top box office sales. It was screened in 2,587 movie theaters over opening weekend, averaging $3,871 per theater.

Home Video
Final Destination was released to DVD by New Line Home Video in Region 1 format in the United States and Canada on September 26th, 2000.

It was re-released under New Line Cinema's Platinum Series on June 1st, 2004. Special features on the DVD include, trailers and two documentaries; "A Look at Test Screening" and "Premonitions".

It was released on Blu-ray format by Warner Bros. on April 7th, 2009.

The movie is included on the Final Destination: 4 Film Favorites DVD collection, along with Final Destination 2, Final Destination 3 and The Final Destination. The collection was released on September 7th, 2010.