The 2000s horror movie that almost starred Tobey Maguire: “I flipped out”
While iconic horror franchises like Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre flamed out due to uninspired reboots, Final Destination has managed a consistent level of quality and even gained enthusiasm over time that has lasted till the recent sixth instalment of Bloodlines.
Part of why it has been so surprising is that it has always found new ways to iterate on its premise without any significant expectations in terms of quality. The first film in 2000 was notoriously cheap, without any major stars attached, and although creator Jeffrey Reddick “had a wish list with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as my two leads, but New Line was like ‘well…’”, because his “wish list” was already somewhat unfeasible given how popular the two were at the time.
Even though the original Final Destination was released two years before they would star in the first Spider-Man film together, Maguire had just appeared alongside Michael Caine in the Academy Award-winning drama The Cider House Rules, and Dunst had an incredible year in 1999 when she starred in Dick, The Virgin Suicides, and Drop Dead Gorgeous.
As is often the case with horror franchises, Final Destination was built around a premise, and not a singular character, and the only cast member to return multiple times was the late great Tony Todd, who served as a mythological figure that helped explain the rules of the universe. Getting Todd into the mix of a cast of up-and-comers was a huge highlight for Reddick, who recalled, “He [New Line chief Bob Shaye] called me up and said they had got Tony Todd, and I flipped out. He is an icon. Such a talented, serious actor”.
Cycling out the characters is also part of what made the movies so exciting, as there was no guarantee that anyone would survive, and moreover, Final Destination could never be accused of not being brutal enough, as it had a higher death count than any of its contemporaries.
The unknowns forming the cast also helped ground the franchise in a form of reality, wherein the young audience fell in love with the series because they were able to see themselves in the characters, who felt like actual teenagers and not A-listers trying to appear like your average Joe.
The only other significant actor, other than Todd, to have a major role in the series was Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but even she was unknown at the time of her appearance in Final Destination 3 and would only attain more fame four years later with Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
The notion of a big star like Maguire starring in Final Destination is compelling, given that he is often cast as straight-laced heroes and good guys, never truly giving himself over to a totally nasty horror film in his career, which made it especially difficult for audiences to see him as anything else after his time as Peter Parker ended.
Maguire did act against type in the psychological war drama Brothers, but the film wasn’t well-received enough for it to have a major impact on the rest of his career; hopefully, he will find his way back to acting, as his brief appearance in Babylon suggested that he might have a ton of potential if he accepted more character roles.
