Writer Eric Heisserer is destined for some big things as he’s literally exploded into the horrorverse. First he penned a rewrite of New Line Cinema’s A Nightmare on Elm Street redo (arriving in theaters this Friday), then he tackled a prequel to John Carpenter’s classic The Thing (now filming for release in 2011), now he’s set his sights on a new destination: Final Destination 5. The “good” news comes beyond the break.
The article over at the Hollywood Reporter states that New Line, hoping to stave off a mummifying franchise, is trying to break out of the repetition of the first four movies and believes that Heisserer is part of the solution.

How he’ll do so is being kept under lock and key, although one scene involves a character undergoing laser-eye surgery.

The “Destination” movies, which center on the idea that one can’t cheat death, usually begin with a group of people who survive a catastrophe because of the intervention of one person who has a premonition. Death, however, will have its due, and the survivors end up expiring in elaborate Rube Goldberg-like fashion.

The movies, produced by Craig Perry, have consistently been profitable for New Line because they tend to be made with modest budgets and generate solid returns, usually in the mid-$50 million range domestically.

The company thought the fourth installment, released last year in 3D, was going to be the last one because it was a tough production that faced reshoots — and received a critical drubbing. However, when it grossed $66 million domestically and was a big success overseas, it was only a matter of time before another one came along.