There’s no horror franchise quite like Final Destination. Most other slashers involved a character chasing and killing everyone, but here it’s death itself that’s the villain. It’s all the more terrifying because how inevitable death truly is. So it’s no surprise that this series took off the way that it did.
The first film made us afraid to fly, the second caused us to be paranoid on the freeway, and the third installment aggravated fears of riding rollercoasters. So on the 15th anniversary of its release, we thought it would be fun to look at 15 fun facts about Final Destination 3.
1. Following the success of Final Destination 2, New Line greenlit this project very quickly. However, they intended it to be more of a standalone, not featuring any characters from the first two movies.
2. Final Destination 3 saw the return of director James Wong, who had directed the first film.
3. Later that year, Wong would write the screenplay for the Black Christmas remake, which also starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
4. Prior to costarring in the High School Musical movies, both Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale auditioned for roles in this movie, but didn’t get the parts.
5. The infamous roller coaster disaster required the actors to ride the coast 26 times to get all the necessary shots.
6. Located in Vancouver, the coaster itself can be found at Playland Amusement Park.
7. The climax that takes place in a hardware store was in fact a real functioning store, and not a set. As a result, they could only shoot overnight when the store was closed, and to ensure that when they wrapped in the morning, the store had to look exactly as it did, so it could open to the public again.
8. While not appearing in person, Tony Todd lent his voice as the devil attraction in the roller coaster and the voice on the subway warning that it is the end of the line.
9. After test audiences didn’t like the ending, it was reshot, with production only ending 10 days before the movie was set to premiere.
10. Actress Chelan Simmons (Ashley, one of the tanning bed victims) made her TV debut way back in 1990 as the little girl who Pennywise takes in the opening scene of It.
11. Final Destination 3 was the first of the series to be partially shot for 3D.
12. The film’s DVD release included a unique feature where viewers could “choose their own adventure” which featured alternate scenes and deaths.
13. While the movie itself garnered mixed to bad reviews, many critics praised Winstead’s character Wendy for being a strong female protagonist, who wasn’t relegated to stereotypes, and was very human and believable.
14. Final Destination 3 remains the only movie in the franchise with a commercially released soundtrack.
15. Nominated for Best Horror Film at the Saturn Awards in 2007, but lost to The Descent.
Which of these did you already know? Which ones surprised you? What’s your favorite Saw movie? Let us know in the comments!
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