Final Destination: Bloodlines Shocks with $51.7M Debut, Becomes Franchise’s Highest Opener

 

The Final Destination franchise just proved it still has deadly momentum. After a 14-year hiatus, Final Destination: Bloodlines has exploded onto the scene with a killer opening weekend, grossing $51.7 million domestically. Critics and fans alike praised the film, helping it achieve the highest-grossing debut in the franchise’s history—beating Final Destination 5 ($42 million) and Final Destination 2 ($46 million).

The film, which follows up on the long-running horror saga known for its elaborate death sequences, now holds a Certified Fresh score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s only the second film in the franchise to earn that honor, a major leap from Final Destination 5’s 63%. This critical success has translated into box office dominance, with projections already placing Bloodlines as the highest-grossing entry in the series. International earnings have pushed its global total to $102 million, with expectations that it will easily cross the $100 million domestic threshold by the end of its run.

The success of Bloodlines is part of a larger trend: horror films with strong brand recognition are continuing to outperform their smaller, original counterparts. While fresh titles like Sinners are making waves with horror enthusiasts, established franchises like A Quiet Place, Terrifier, and now Final Destination are bringing in the big numbers.

Meanwhile, the box office also saw one of its biggest flops of the year. Trey Edward Shults’ Hurry Up Tomorrow, co-written and starring The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), tanked with a mere $3.3 million debut and a brutal 19% Tomatometer score—the lowest of any 2025 film released in over 2,000 theaters. Despite Shults’ previously strong track record with films like Krisha, It Comes at Night, and Waves, critics have dismissed this latest entry as a vanity project. It follows the disappointing critical response to The Weeknd’s HBO series The Idol, which similarly earned a 19% score.

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, all eyes are on Bloodlines to see if it can maintain its momentum and push the Final Destination series into the $100 million domestic club for the first time.