Latest news with #AdamBStein
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Final Destination Bloodlines HBO Max Release Date Set for Streaming Debut
New Line Cinema has finally announced the Final Destination Bloodlines HBO Max release date for the upcoming streaming debut of its latest installment to the iconic supernatural horror franchise. During its theatrical run, the movie garnered a worldwide gross of over $285 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing installment of the franchise. 'The newest chapter in the bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death's twisted sense of justice,' reads the official synopsis. 'Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.' When is the Final Destination Bloodlines HBO Max release date? Final Destination Bloodlines will be available for streaming starting on Friday, August 1, exclusively on HBO Max. It will then be followed by its broadcast debut on Saturday, August 2 on HBO. In addition to its commercial success, the movie has received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. It currently holds a Certified Fresh rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 223 reviews. The film was directed by filmmaking duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein from a screenplay written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick. The ensemble cast included Kaitlyn Santa Juana (The Friendship Game), Teo Briones (Chucky), Richard Harmon (The Age of Adaline), Owen Patrick Joyner (Julie and the Phantoms), Anna Lore (Gotham Knights), and Brec Bassinger (Stargirl), with Tony Todd (Candyman) in his final movie appearance after he passed away last year at the age of 69. It was produced by Craig Perry, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Jon Watts, and Toby Emmerich, with David Siegel and Warren Zide serving as executive producers. In a previous interview with ComingSoon, Stein and Lipovsky explained why it was important for them to balance the scares with the humor and emotional sequences. 'We love the movie that gives you all the feelings,' Stein shared. 'So we tried really hard to balance scares and suspense with also humor and with heart because this is the first Final Destination about a family. So it was really important to us that the family actually care about each other, actually have strong relationships, and that the deaths mean something. He continued, 'And it was our thought from the very beginning that if you cared about the characters and they cared about each other, that the death scenes would be even more suspenseful and more horrific. So that was kind of what we were trying to do.' Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Expect More ‘Final Destination' Movies After ‘Bloodlines' Success
(Left to right) Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky on the set of 'Final Destination Bloodlines' "I think there's definitely interest in making more Final Destination movies, and I'm sure they will continue to make more," confirms Final Destination Bloodlines co-director Zach Lipovsky. Since the film's release in May 2025, the sixth installment in the franchise has grossed $283.4 million worldwide. Final Destination Bloodlines' opening weekend also set a franchise record with $51.7 million at the domestic box office. The filmmaker continues, "It has something so relatable for audiences that they want to keep coming back to it. The key is to ensure that each one is innovative. This one was particularly innovative, as it centered on a family, and we filled it with all sorts of crazy ideas for everything we could think of to include in a film. I'm sure there are rooms of people trying to figure out exactly how to do that all over again, and the audiences, I'm sure, will be there too." The supernatural horror film centers on a college student plagued by a recurring violent nightmare. She heads home to find out what it all means and finds out that she's the only one who can break a deadly cycle and save her family from the horrific fate that inevitably awaits them. Final Destination Bloodlines continues to put butts in seats in theaters as it arrives to stream on digital. "This film actually started its life for HBO Max when the concept of doing one came up," Lipovsky recalls. "As the streaming bubble collapsed, and Zaslav took over Warner and all those types of things, a theatrical first model is where a lot of the legacy studios have started to realize that there's a lot of money on the table if you make an amazing movie." 'Final Destination Bloodlines's Theatrical Home Run Was A Dream Come True Final Destination Bloodlines is already one of the year's biggest box office hits, and the filmmakers are incredibly grateful to have been given a significant theatrical release. "We made a movie that we thought would hook the audience and get them on the edges of their seats, and to see that happen is just so gratifying," enthuses co-director Adam B. Stein. "It's about making it feel like an event and making it feel like something you need to see in theaters. That was something we focused on from the beginning, as we partnered with IMAX. We did a lot of things to try to give it that urgent feeling of unpredictability, the big spectacle, and all that stuff." Lipovsky adds, "As a filmmaker, it's a dream that's even hard to believe is happening. You never think it will come true. Even just the fact that we had our premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, it's where Star Wars and Titanic had their premieres, and they are these monumental box office hits we grew up loving, so it's incredible." "I think our favorite part of this whole experience was opening weekend. Warner Brothers worked with their theater teams to let us sneak into auditoriums all over Los Angeles and creepily watch audiences reacting to all sorts of crazy shit happening on screen and watch them screaming, laughing, clapping and walking to the bathroom, then stopping and watching the screen and not going to the bathroom." Final Destination Bloodlines is now available to rent and own digitally and will be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. While both directors relish the theatrical opportunity, they're happy to evangelize about what the film offers audiences at home. "I'm excited for people to have it at home. I think people are going to have a fun time filming their friends and family watching the movie," Lipovsky enthuses. "You could also surprise people, because the movie starts as romantic. You could plug it in for your mom and say, 'You're going to watch this romantic period piece,' and see what happens." For a whole generation of moviegoers, at home, whether on DVD or streaming, is where they first became fans of the franchise that began in 2000. "We made it for the fans, but also new viewers, and it was so much fun to see people who were four when the last one came out and are now 18, and they're discovering Final Destination for the first time," Stein says. "A lot of new viewers came to the franchise from this movie, so that has been really fun." "We were fans of Final Destination because we always admired that the filmmaking was the star of the franchise. Unlike other horror movies, there's no villain on screen; there's no murderer with a mask or a monster in the woods. It's the close-up; insert shots of objects colliding with other objects to create danger and suspense. It's the filmmaking that is the villain of the movie. As directors, we always respected and admired it, and it was so much fun to create our version. We also felt like in this version that was about a family, there was an opportunity to amp up the character piece of the movie." Tony Todd (front middle) surrounded by cast members own the set of 'Final Destination Bloodlines.' Tony Todd's Legacy Is Spotlighted As 'Final Destination Bloodlines' Comes Home One character who was a recurring presence in the Final Destination films was coroner and mortician William Bludworth, played by the iconic —and now tragically late —character actor Tony Todd. The Legend of Bludworth, a feature on the home entertainment release, is all about their legacy. "We obviously documented the hell out of him being there and interviewed him about it. Everyone was so excited to have him in the movie," Lipovsky shares. "We crafted the whole narrative around giving him more of a beginning and a backstory, but also giving him a goodbye to the audience and giving him the chance to say goodbye. Everyone immediately knew that his story would be the heart of this entire movie. The home audience being able to see a special dedication to him is something that'll be healing and exciting, as it'll show how joyful he was to get the chance to come back and play this character. You can see in his interviews how much he loved it." With the directors reviving the Final Destination franchise to such great success, has Hollywood been courting the pair to tackle other series that need resuscitation? "There are a lot of conversations we've been having about different things," Stein confirms. "There are definitely a lot of opportunities," a tight-lipped Lipovsky concludes with a smile. "It's so much fun as fans, and that there are these incredible pieces of cinematic history that we grew up loving that are sitting there. You don't want to ruin them, because they're sacred, but you also would love to recapture that feeling of what it was like to watch them. We approached Final Destination the same way. It's an iconic franchise." "Final Destination 5 ended the franchise perfectly. You almost didn't need another movie. Even when we heard they were making another one, we were a bit skeptical. As we began to realize the potential of what was there and ways to bring the franchise into a modern era, as fans, it became exciting to know that we could reinvigorate it. If there are opportunities to do that with other beloved things, that would be awesome."
Globe and Mail
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Final Destination: Bloodlines understands the assignment
Final Destination: Bloodlines Directed by Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein Written by Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts Starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Tony Todd, Teo Briones Classification R; 110 minutes Given the steady stream of horror reboots that have been released in the past decade, it's no surprise to see a reimagining of the 2000s' sleepover classic Final Destination – also known as the gleefully gory freak-accident franchise that caused a generation of viewers to develop an innate fear of driving behind logging trucks. Originally conceived as an episode of Chris Carter's 1990s' sci-fi television series The X-Files, the idea behind Final Destination took on a life of its own, bending and twisting its vision of 'death's design' over the course of five instalments, beginning with the first movie in 2000 and ending in 2011 with Final Destination 5. With the release of Final Destination: Bloodlines, director duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (the filmmaker/writer pair behind the 2018 independent sci-fi horror film Freaks) re-envision the series for audiences both new and returning. Appropriately, the pair are joined by a screenwriting team that includes Guy Busick, the pen behind two other recently refreshed sequels ('reboot-quels'?): 2022's Scream and 2023's Scream VI. Bloodlines kicks off its story quickly, introducing viewers to Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana of The CW's The Flash), a college student who suffers from debilitating nightmares of a freak accident involving her grandmother back in the 1960s. Raised by her single dad alongside her younger brother, Charlie (Teo Briones), Stefani learns that her dreams may be more rooted in reality than she thought, and seeks out her estranged maternal grandmother, Iris, to find answers. Cast off as delusional, if not dangerous, by her family, Iris is a recluse, living in a small fortress of a home that is designed more for perpetual defence against an unseen yet omnipresent threat than for living. There, Iris gives Stefani a crash course in death's logic and tells of the inevitable fate that their family is destined for: Death is coming for them all. As Bloodlines unveils its narrative machinations, its best quality as a reboot comes to the fore: its clear reverence for the series. It is also undoubtedly the funniest entry thus far, building on the franchise's trademark hyper-communicative camera work with winking, nostalgic song choices and a script that is patterned with self-referential comic quips and bits. Much like its predecessors, Bloodlines joyfully relishes in its Rube Goldbergian kills and thrills, often trading on the absurd humour of its own fashioning. In this vein, it is a movie that is well aware of its positioning within the horror ecosystem and that doesn't try to forcefully reinvent itself for 2025. There is no Gen Alpha slang, no perpetual reminder of family trauma (looking at you, David Gordon Green's Halloween reboot trilogy), no evocation of culture wars as a narrative hinge. Bloodlines leans into its own ancestral line, offering up a buffet of often creative – but, truthfully, sometimes underwhelming – kills, sprinkled with a smattering of coy close calls for good measure. While Bloodlines sustains its energetic outing with dynamic editing and tight narrative pacing, the film unfortunately echoes its predecessors in its reliance on rough CGI over more visually satisfying practical effects. Likewise, the story's death logic sometimes pushes the limits of comprehension, although, to be fair, this twisting of imagination is – as long-time fans know – in line with tradition. It also facilitates the last onscreen appearance of Final Destination favourite and veteran horror actor Tony Todd, who reprises his character as funeral-home owner William Bludworth one last time. With lines he scripted himself as a final goodbye to fans ahead of his passing in 2024 (after a long illness), Todd's presence offers an unexpected moment of tender sincerity in a movie that otherwise fully leans into what it refers to as 'fate's demented sense of humour.' It's a warm-hearted tribute that further underscores Bloodlines' appreciation for the series and its devotees. While it might not be the best horror film release this year by any means, Bloodlines is undoubtedly a solid and studied chapter in the Final Destination universe. Audiences nostalgic for the franchise's happily unserious and garishly blood-soaked revelry will likely find themselves cheering and peeking through hand-covered eyes in equal bouts.
Screen Geek
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Screen Geek
'Final Destination: Bloodlines' Review: Death Is Back - And It's Entertaining As F*ck
Few horror films make a cultural impact like the classic ones. Everyone knows the serial killer of nightmares, the hockey mask-wearing zombie, the guy with pins in his head, and the dude with the William Shatner face. Yet, newer ones have affected horror, such as Candyman, Art the Clown, and Ghostface. Although the Final Destination franchise has no physical figure that stalks its victims, the kills have been legendary. Thankfully, that continues with Final Destination: Bloodlines as Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein bring the series back to life. Final Destination: Bloodlines , directed by Lipovsky and Stein, brings back Death to course-correct destiny and piles up the bodies. The script, written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, follows Stefani Reyes, played by Kaitlyn Santa Juana. Stefani discovers that Death has come for her and her entire family brutally and tries her damnedest to keep them alive. The Final Destination movies tend to have a simple premise, but Busick and Taylor slightly changed it while staying true to the lore. There have been two ways to survive in Final Destination and Death's design. Final Destination: Bloodlines goes differently and in a big way. The first Act's catastrophe causes a rippling effect thanks to Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger), opening the franchise's door to a new direction. The writers introduce the concept of wiping out entire generations and allow the movie to go hard with the character development and their impactful deaths. Family secrets start to emerge during events in Final Destination: Bloodlines, giving the movie more meaning. There are several characters to connect to; the family isn't cheesy and doesn't come off like a soap opera. It's realistic, but moments of genuine humor are still sprinkled throughout. Another noteworthy portion of the writing was the connection with one longstanding character in the franchise. The iconic horror actor Tony Todd reprises his role as Mr. Bludworth in the series, and the writing gives his mysterious character an incredible 'glow up.' It's no secret that Final Destination: Bloodlines would be Todd's final film, and the creatives behind the movie decided to give the actor a great send-off. The story brings his character full circle and showcases why Bludworth has been crucial. Lipovsky and Stein even allowed Todd to thank his fans and proclaim the importance of a meaningful life. It honestly brought a tear to my eye. Lipovsky and Stein have directed smaller-budget projects in their career. Final Destination: Bloodlines is a big step for the duo, and the pair doesn't hold back. The inciting incident is an impressive display of confidence in their directing. The Rube Goldberg level in the first catastrophe starts most simply and grows into brilliance. That quality continues throughout the movie, with some moments of hilarity mixed perfectly. The final death in the film had me cheering and coming to terms with the fact that Lipovsky and Stein were born to make these movies. Even the final disaster gave the movie a perfect bookend. It's a nod to a memorable death scene in the Final Destination franchise that gave this movie the 'cherry on top ' moment.' I love Final Destination: Bloodlines . Lipovsky and Stein came into this series to make every death memorable while doing the same for the characters. The film is a beautiful send-off to a horror icon while paving the way for new ideas in this franchise. I cheered, laughed, cried a bit, and wanted more. Death is back, and it's entertaining as f**k. Grade: A
Geek Tyrant
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Review: FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES Satisfies Our Fatal Curiosity With Inventive and Wicked Carnage — GeekTyrant
I've been on board with Final Destination since that first Rube‑Goldberg plane crash fried our collective nerves in 2000, so walking into Final Destination: Bloodlines I wanted exactly two things, grisly ingenuity and that uneasy grin you get when Death starts rearranging the furniture. Right away the film reassures longtime fans that the rules are still cruel, the premonition is still a rush, and fate remains the snarkiest villain in horror. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein keep the franchise DNA intact while sliding in a tighter, almost mystery‑thriller rhythm. We follow college student Stefanie, who's tormented by repeat nightmares and heads home to figure out what in the hell is going on. The fresh wrinkle in the story is generational, Bloodlines plays with the idea that the curse is wired into ancestry, not just survivors of one freak accident, and that tweak adds just enough spice to the story without rewriting the rulebook. Plot‑wise, the movie moves like a carnival ride you know by heart… premonition, scramble, a prop in the background sparks a chain reaction, and boom! Death! It's familiar comfort food, and that's part of the fun. Tony Todd's final turn as the ominous William Bludworth is both eerie and oddly touching; the film pauses just long enough on him to feel like a proper curtain call for the actor. But, the meat here is the meat. The death set pieces are bloody gleeful. Each death escalates the blood and gore quota while keeping the punch‑line timing that makes this series a midnight‑movie staple. When I saw the movie, every death came with cringe groans by the audience, followed by clappoing and cheers when death succeeds. . If you're a veteran of this franchise, Bloodlines gives you exactly the ride you paid for, no reinvention necessary, just sharper claws and a wicked sense of showmanship. Grab a group of equally morbid buddies, find the fullest theater you can, and let the collective gasps‑then‑laughing wash over you. This is a fun horror flick and one of the best entries in the franchise. As a send‑off to Tony Todd and a love letter to pragmatic, imaginative carnage, it's a satisfyingly nasty reminder that Death may be inevitable, but the route can still surprise the hell out of us.
