I have to admit that I haven’t watched a single installment of the Final Destination franchise. I’ve certainly had ample opportunity to do so, since there’ve been 4 of them between 2000 and 2009, and there’s a 5th one on the way, scheduled for release on August 12, this summer.
As I type this, I’m actually streaming the first one thanks to Amazon.com and my Roku Player, if only to catch up with the series, and partly because our man, Candyman himself, Tony Todd was in 3 of the first 4, and will also feature in the upcoming 5th film. None of them has been rated very highly, but they were all relatively cheap to make, and did decent box office (compared to cost), which is probably why there’ve been several sequels.
I’m only about 20 minutes in, and the character Todd plays has yet to be introduced, so I’m not sure how involved he is in the first one. He plays a mortician named William Bludworth. Those of you who’ve seen the film(s) would be familiar.
However, in the upcoming 5th installment, Mr Todd gave his involvement a “Thumbs way up,” further telling Dread Central in a previous interview that, “They expanded my part, and the producer told me as we were leaving Vancouver that if it opens at Number 1 – which statistically it has – they’re going to shoot the next two simultaneously.”
Exactly what you wanted to hear I’m sure 🙂 Though, I guess we should be happy for him that his part has been expanded for the 5th film, and that he continues to work, despite the fact that he’s rarely talked about.
Forget Samuel L Jackson as the hardest working man in showbiz, Tony Todd’s IMDB resume shows that he had roles in 7 films last year, and will be featured in about 13 this year!
By the way, did you know that he was the voice of The Fallen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? I didn’t.
The plotline for Final Destination 5 reads: Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.
By the way, Courtney B. Vance costars; his first time in the series.
Oh, and it’ll be in 3D too. D’uh!
Watch the new trailer below:
