Craig Perry - Roller Coasters, Writers, and Final Destination 3

Would you call yourself a thrill-seeking horror buff? Are you an adrenaline charged film junkie who can’t get enough of bang for your buck when it comes to action packed horror? If so, you’ll be happy to know the next installment in the highly popular Final Destination film franchise is right around the corner. Hitting theaters in late 2005 or early 2006, Final Destination 3 is currently gearing up in Vancouver to once again cheat death for a new fun-filled horrific adventure. On a recent visit to the production where the film’s opening sequence was being filmed, we sat down with producer extraordinaire, Craig Perry (Final Destination, Final Destination 2, American Pie) to get the lowdown on how all good things come to us in sets of three. With the production in full swing and the crew working on the roller coaster, Devil’s Flight, Perry elaborated on such interesting elements as how original Final Destination writing collaborators James Wong and Glen Morgan (The One) joined death in making a comeback, their approach to the writing, how the film differs from the first two in the franchise, and what we can expect from the film’s thrilling opening sequence. According to Perry, Final Destination 3 is going to be one hell of a roller coaster ride.

In 2000, film fans flocked to Wong and Morgan penned Final Destination to the tune of a worldwide box-office gross of over $65 million. In 2003, Final Destination 2, penned by Butterfly Effect scribes Eric Bress and Jonathan Gruber, equaled those numbers, making the Final Destination franchise a favorite among moviegoers across the globe. Despite the success of the first film, Wong and Morgan were absent when it came to gearing up for a second installment. As we know, writing a successful film is what most struggling writers aspire to accomplish. So, what happened to the original writers when it came to writing the sequel? Craig Perry explains, “We didn’t get Jim and Glen for the second one. They had already scheduled a couple of television projects and they had Willard going. I think they were also in a backwash of The One and they didn’t need to do it. They just went to that world for awhile, but when Final Destination 3 came around, out of courtesy we said, ‘Hey guys we’d love to go back and…’ They were like, ‘Well what the hell are you going to do?’ We mentioned ‘roller coaster’ and their reaction was, ‘Hey, that’s not bad.’ They had to get inspired and the roller coaster led to a bunch of different scenarios. One of the things I feel makes the first two movies work is the same philosophy of, we’ve all been in doctors offices, we’ve all been in dentists offices, hospitals, elevators and that sort of thing. They made us realize there are a lot of everyday circumstances people find themselves in.”

As with most films, success often depends on whether an audience can relate to various elements of the subject matter being portrayed on screen. It all starts with story and the script and if moviegoers can relate to the characters and the unique situations they confront, the chances for box office success improves significantly. The challenge for Wong and Morgan this time out is in bridging the gap between their involvement in Final Destination and a return to a third installment while addressing the success and unique tone of Final Destination 2. Fortunately, Craig Perry has been involved in all three films as producer and shares his insight on how Wong and Morgan deal with the two distinct approaches of the previous films in relation to creating magic for a third time. “One of the nice things is that Glen and Jim appreciate what Final Destination 2 did and what it brought to the table in terms of raising the bar for the franchise. They’re not ignoring FD2, they’re assimilating it into the vision they have. One of the things you’ll see is how the roller coaster scene will knock peoples’ balls in the dirt. The subsequent sequences are likewise, there’s a lot of energy to them. You’ll see influences from both sides. Like anything, though, you have a different director, who’s going to have a different tone. David’s sense of humor is different from Jim and Glen’s sense of humor. I think you’ll see the more darkly comic stuff. I feel the first movie had a better understanding of how to create atmosphere and mood, and a sense of dread. Whereas David’s gift is that he creates visceral kinetic rushes and is able to keep things moving. He delivers and knows how to shoot spectacular action and depths. This third one, I think will marry the two.”

With the original Final Destination, Wong and Morgan gave us the dreaded Flight 180. For those who didn’t get on the flight, death still became their worst nightmare. In the second installment, Gruber and Bress revealed death’s return via an explosive chain reaction highway sequence. With Final Destination 3, death makes a comeback on something relatable to all moviegoers, a roller coaster. Taking us onboard for a thrilling ride on the tracks, Perry explains death’s return. “In many respects, death never really left. I don’t think it’s about death necessarily making a comeback as much as the audience, being privy to the various new ways as regular people dealing in this universe, can somehow get an edge up on what death’s plans are. Once you realize that, your mind jibbers insanely at the prospect of having death manifest itself anywhere. One of the things dramatically that Jim and Glen found interesting and ultimately really wanted to explore, was the use of technology. The hard thing for these movies, especially as we’ve gone on through them is finding accessible ways for people to feel like that could happen to them. We took great pains this time to go back to the beginning, start with a blank slate and start from scratch. Part of the fun of making these movies is to play off the audience. The audience is your mouse and you’re the cat and I think they’ve paid good money to experience that. If you can deliver that, then everybody walks away happy.”