Final Destination 3

Final Destination 3 was originally the last part of a trilogy and had been in development since the release of Final Destination 2.[4] Franchise creator Jeffrey Reddick and one of the co-writers of the first two films did not return for the third installment.[5] Director James Wong said that unlike the second film, which was closely tied to the first and continued its story, the producers always envisioned Final Destination 3 as a stand-alone sequel featuring new characters.[4] He said:[W]e really felt that the idea of Final Destination, or the fact that Death can visit you and you can cheat death ... could happen to anyone." By not using characters from the first film the producers could use a new plot, with new characters who would be unaware what was happening to them and react accordingly.[4]

The film's original title, Cheating Death: Final Destination 3, changed during development.[6][7] Craig Perry and Warren Zide's Zide/Perry Productions, and Wong and Glen Morgan's own Hard Eight Pictures that co-produced Final Destination returned to produce Final Destination 3 with Practical Pictures and Manitee Pictures. Initially, the film was to be filmed in 3D, but this was abandoned.[8] Morgan said it was for financial reasons and because he believed fire and blood effects would not be shown properly through the red filters of anaglyph 3D systems.[9]

The idea of using a roller coaster derailment as the opening-scene disaster came from New Line Cinema executive Richard Bryant and was not inspired by the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad incident from 2003 when a derailment occurred that crushed a rider. The Omen (1976) was the inspiration to depict death omens in photographs.[4] Morgan said he searched the aisles of a store on Sunset Boulevard for days for inspiration for Erin's hardware-store death.[9] Loss of control is a major theme he and Wong had envisioned for the film from the very beginning; both Wendy, who is afraid of losing control, and the roller coaster exemplify this. He said psychologists have confirmed one reason some people are afraid of riding a roller coaster is because they have no control over it and what happens to them.[10]

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (left) portrayed the film's visionary, Wendy Christensen; Winstead had previously auditioned for Final Destination 2.[11] Tony Todd (right), who had previously appeared as William Bludworth in the first two films, came back in a voice only role as the Devil's statue and the subway conductor.[12]

During the casting process, Wong sought actors who could portray the main characters as heroic individuals with realistic qualities. Perry echoed this sentiment, saying that for the Wendy and Kevin characters they looked for actors who "had the charisma of movie stars, but weren't so ridiculously rarefied that you couldn't feel like you might know them".[13] They took great care casting the supporting characters who were considered as important to the film as the main characters.[13]

On March 21, 2005, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman—co-stars of The Ring Two (2005)—were cast as Wendy Christensen and Kevin Fischer.[6] Winstead, who had auditioned for the second Final Destination film,[11] won the role because her portrayal of the character's emotion impressed Wong and Morgan. Wong said he had originally intended Wendy to be a "perky blonde" and reworked the character slightly after Winstead was selected. Wong believed the actors were right for their roles. He felt Winstead "[brought] a kind of soulfulness to her role as Wendy" and though her character "is deeply affected by the accident", her strength allows her to remain in control.[14] Wong said when Merriman arrived to audition he was sure he was "the right guy to play Kevin". He described the character as "the kind of guy you want to hang out with, your goofy best buddy, but also someone who could rise to the occasion and become a hero".[14]

On April 9, 2005, Kris Lemche and Alexz Johnson were cast as the goth couple Ian McKinley and Erin Ulmer.[15] Johnson, who was starring in the Canadian television series Instant Star (2004–2008), had auditioned to play Wendy's sister Julie; that role later went to Amanda Crew, who originally auditioned to play Erin. Johnson said she wore a rocker jacket during her second reading and was in a bad mood. As she was leaving, the filmmakers called her back to read some of Erin's sarcastic dialogue in a scene. Johnson thought her dry sense of humor, which the filmmakers caught, helped her land the part.[14] Of his role, Lemche said Ian "spouts some interesting facts that seem to be just right there on the tips of his fingers". He researched most of Ian's information and during read-throughs often asked Morgan about Ian's facts. Morgan wrote Lemche notes and gave him URLs to research the information Ian gives out.[14]

Jesse Moss was cast as Wendy's boyfriend Jason Wise. Texas Battle played athlete Lewis Romero. Chelan Simmons took the role of Ashley Freund. Sam Easton portrayed school alumnus Frankie Cheeks. Gina Holden played Kevin's girlfriend and Wendy's best friend, Carrie Dreyer.[15] Crystal Lowe joined the cast as student Ashlyn Halperin. Tony Todd, who appeared in the first two films, did not return as the mortician Bludworth but voiced the Devil statue at the roller coaster and a subway conductor.[12] Maggie Ma and Ecstasia Sanders played Julie's friends Perry Malinowski and Amber Regan, respectively.[16]

Like the first two installments of the franchise, Final Destination 3 was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.[17][18] The Corkscrew roller coaster at Vancouver's Playland was the Devil's Flight coaster depicted in the film.[18][19] Winstead and Merriman said the filming took three months with the first two weeks were spent shooting the roller coaster derailment. The rest of the filming was done out of sequence.[18] Filming wrapped in July, but viewers at early screenings reacted negatively to the ending. This led to the filming of a new ending sequence featuring a subway train derailment in November 2005.[17]

The Corkscrew roller coaster was used as the Devil's Flight in the film. CGI and a variety of camera angles made it look larger.

The death scenes required varying degrees of 2D and 3D graphic enhancement. The roller coaster scene necessitated 144 visual-effect shots. Custom-designed coaster cars were built and modified for the script; most of the model was hand-built and computer-designed MEL scripts added specific elements. For the coaster-crash scenes, the actors were filmed performing in front of a green screen, to which a CGI background was added. Several of the roller coaster's cars were suspended with bungee cords to film the crash; the deaths required the use of CGI onscreen effects and each actor had a corresponding CGI double.[20]

Meteor Studios produced the roller coaster and subway crashes while Digital Dimension handled the post-premonition death scenes. The death of Ian McKinley, who is bisected by a cherry picker, proved especially challenging. A clean plate of the cherry picker falling was originally shot with a plate of Lemche acting crushed and falling to the ground with his bottom half in a partial green-screen suit.[lower-alpha 1] After combining those plates, Wong said "he wanted more of a gruesome punch for the shot". A standard CGI body of Lemche's height was used; several animation simulations of the body being crushed with a CGI object were filmed. The director chose the version he liked most. A new plate was then filmed with Lemche imitating the chosen animation and positioning his body at the end. Soho VFX created the scene where Ashley and Ashlyn are killed on tanning beds. It consisted of about 35 shots of CG skin, glass, fire, and smoke mixed with real fire and smoke. The subway crash in the film's epilogue used a CG environment reproducing the main aspects of the set.[20]

The score for Final Destination 3 was composed by Shirley Walker, who wrote the soundtracks of the series' previous installments. Score mixer Bobby Fernandez created a "gore-o-meter", measuring the violence of each death to ensure the score would match the scenes.[21] Final Destination 3 is the only film in the series without a commercially released soundtrack.[22] Musician Tommy Lee provided a cover of The O'Jays 1972 song "Love Train", which was used in the film's closing credits. Lee enjoyed "put[ting his] own darker spin on it for the movie".[23]

Final Destination 3 opened on February 10, 2006, in 2,880 theaters in the United States and Canada. It earned $19,173,094 on its opening weekend with an average of $6,657 per theater.[29] The film placed second domestically behind the remake of The Pink Panther, which opened the same day and earned $20,220,412.[29] Final Destination 3 fell to fifth in its second weekend and seventh in its third, dropping off the top-ten list on its fourth weekend.[30] Its last screening, in 135 theaters, occurred during its tenth weekend; the film finished at 37th place with $105,940.[31] Final Destination 3's total earnings were $54,098,051 at the domestic box office and $63,621,107 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $117,719,158.[2] At the time of its release, the film was the most financially successful installment in the franchise; it retained this title until The Final Destination surpassed it in 2009 with a worldwide gross of $186,167,139.[32]

The film was released as a 2-disc DVD on July 25, 2006, by New Line Cinema, in widescreen and full screen formats.[33] Special features include an audio commentary, a deleted scene, three documentaries, the theatrical trailer, and an original animated video.[34] Wong, Morgan and cinematographer Robert Mclachlan provide the audio commentary. The deleted scene is an extended version of Wendy and Kevin's discussion after they are questioned by the police.[35] The first documentary, Dead Teenager Movie, examines the history of slasher films. The second, Kill Shot: Making Final Destination 3, focuses on the making of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew. Severed Piece, the third documentary, discusses the film's special effects, pyrotechnics, and gore effects. A seven-minute animated film, It's All Around You, explains the various ways people can die.[36] Special DVD editions labeled "Thrill Ride Edition" also include an optional feature called "Choose Their Fate", allowing viewers to make decisions at several points in the film. Most provide only minor alterations to the death scenes, but the first choice allows the viewer to stop Wendy, Kevin, Jason, and Carrie from boarding the roller coaster before the premonition, ending the film immediately.[35][37] The film grossed $18.9 million in home sales.[38] The film was released on Blu-ray on July 7, 2009.[39]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 43% of 116 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Final Destination 3 is more of the same: gory and pointless, with nowhere new to go."[40] At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[41] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[42]

Several critics described the story as formulaic compared to the previous installments; Roger Ebert wrote that the film's main issue was its predictability and lack of tension because it was "clear to everyone who must die and in what order".[43] Variety compared the narrative negatively with the franchise's second installment, describing the third film as lacking intricacy.[44] The New York Times similarly described the film as lacking the "novelty of the first [or] the panache of the second".[45] TV Guide called the periods between characters' deaths "dull", highlighting one reason the film failed to match the formula set out in the previous installments.[46] Other reviewers were more positive; IGN praised the story—Chris Carle wrote that the "formula has been perfected rather than worn out" by the third film.[47][48] Empire's Kim Newman and The Guardian found the story enjoyable, but said Final Destination 3 adhered primarily to the structure set out by the rest of the franchise.[49][50]

The film's tone and death scenes were positively received by critics. Writing for ReelViews, James Berardinelli described Final Destination 3 as incorporating more humor compared to its predecessors and said it worked to the film's benefit.[51] The Seattle Times agreed the film's humorous tone helped to elevate it and said fans of the franchise would enjoy the death sequences.[52] Sarah Dobbs of Den of Geek! said the tone made Final Destination 3 the high point of the franchise. She commended the film's style as a "brightly coloured [and] slightly silly meditation on how we're all gonna die one day, so we might as well do it explosively".[53] The tanning bed and nail gun scenes were singled out as the best death sequences from the film and the franchise.[54][55][56]

Some critics praised Winstead's performance. According to the BBC, "… the real tragedy is that promising young actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead must endure this torture".[57] Berardinelli described her as delivering "as competent a job as one could expect in these dire circumstances". Felix Gonzalez, Jr. of DVD Reviews praised Winstead's and Merriman's performances as one of the few positive aspects of the film.[58] Similarly, The Seattle Times praised Winstead for conveying Wendy's emotions.[52] The Daily Telegraph also listed Wendy as one of the top 20 final girls in horror films and praised Winstead's performance for making Wendy a believable character.[59]

Final Destination 3 was nominated at the 2006 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Highest Body Count, Line That Killed (Best One-Liner), Sickest FX (Best Special Effects) as well as Most Thrilling Killing (Best Death Scene) for Frankie's death.[60] At the 2007 Saturn Awards it was nominated for Best Horror Film and the "Thrill Ride Edition" was nominated for Best DVD Special Edition Release.[61]