"I intend to enjoy the time I have left, and I suggest you do the same. Life is precious, enjoy every single second. You never know when... good luck."
Horror legend Tony Todd (Candyman, The Crow) sadly passed away last November after a long illness, and Final Destination: Bloodlines features the actor's final performance.
Todd makes a brief cameo as the returning Mr. Bludwurth when the beleaguered protagonists pay him a visit in an attempt to figure out how to get themselves off Death's hit list. After giving them a couple of not particularly appealing options, Bludwurth takes his leave, with some parting words for the doomed family members, and his fans.
Co-director Adam Stein has now revealed that Todd's unscripted final words also served as a farewell to the audience.
"Throughout prepping the movie, we knew Tony was sick, and there were times when we weren’t sure if he would be interested in even doing the movie," Stein explained to Variety. "But he kept reaching out to tell us, “I’ve got to be in this movie. Don’t write me out of it.” He was very excited to broaden the understanding of his character, Bludworth. In the previous episodes of the franchise, he has been a bit of a mysterious mentor figure, without much character on a human level. So he was very excited about the idea of giving his character a human backstory, where you now understand why Bludworth knew so much about death and was so concerned about premonitions and that sort of thing. But then to also give the character not just a beginning, but also an ending, because we were pretty sure this would be his last Final Destination movie, because they take years to make, even though we didn’t know it would be his last movie overall.
As the character is saying goodbye to the other characters in the movie, we also knew it was a meta message of Tony saying goodbye to the franchise. We asked him if he would be willing, in that final moment, to put the script aside and just speak from the heart about what he wanted to leave the audience with. 'What do you want your fans to know about life, Tony? Tell them in whatever words you want to say.' The take that’s in the movie is him just speaking from the heart about life, and I think that’s why it’s so emotionally powerful. There was an awestruck hush over the entire cast when we filmed."
Final Destination: Bloodlines is currently slaying at the box office with a $102 million worldwide opening, giving it the biggest debut for an R-rated horror movie this decade.
The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice—Final Destination Bloodlines. 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.
Final Destination Bloodlines stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, with Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd. The film is directed by Adam Stein & Zach Lipovsky. The screenplay is by Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor, and story is by Jon Watts and Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor. It is based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick.