New Line is planning a relaunch of its highly lucrative Final Destination franchise, and Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts has joined the creative team as a producer. He also wrote the story treatment for the project, which is being developed for the HBO Max streaming service.
Watts’ wife and partner, Dianne McGunigle, is also producing, along with original Final Destination producers Craig Perry and Sheila Hanahan Taylor. Lori Evans Taylor and Guy Busick are penning the screenplay.
Unlike other recent horror revivals which dropped the numbers from their titles, the movie is currently known as "Final Destination 6," which suggests that it will be a continuation and not a full reboot (although this series never really focused on the same characters from movie to movie, anyway).
“Both Dianne and I have been massive fans of Final Destination from the very beginning,” Watts said 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.”
The first Final Destination was directed by James Wong and starred Devon Sawa as a teenager who has a terrifying premonition and manages to convince several of his schoolmates to leave the plane they just boarded. When the plane crashes and the characters cheat Death, they soon begin to die in increasingly gory and elaborate ways.
Watts' next project as director is still expected to be Marvel Studios' Fantastic Four reboot, which has yet to be dated.