Two years before Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst almost starred together in the first Final Destination horror movie. With a sixth Final Destination movie currently in the works, it probably won’t be too much longer before the specter of Death killing unfortunate survivors in any number of creative ways is reinserted into the pop culture conversation. During the 2000s though, the Final Destination films were a favorite of horror fans looking for a good time, and a seemingly guaranteed money maker for New Line Cinema.
The plot of each Final Destination film is basically the same. A group of people is saved from dying as part of some kind of big disaster (a plane crash, a highway pile-up, etc.) thanks to a terrifying premonition had by the main character just before the event was to occur. Unfortunately, Death doesn’t take kindly to a disruption in its design, and those who survived their scheduled demise are targeted in order to balance Death’s books. Or something. Final Destination 5 kind of muddied the waters by hinting that Death itself was sending the premonitions.
Anyway, the first Final Destination - and the one most consider the best, although Final Destination 2 also has a lot of fans - starred Devon Sawa and Ali Larter as co-leads Alex Browning and Clear Rivers. However, they weren’t the studio’s favored options.
Final Destination Almost Starred Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst
It turns out that New Line’s top choices for the roles of Alex and Clear were Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. This not only would’ve cast them as the male and female lead in a film prior to the first Spider-Man movie, but also had them end up as a possible romantic pairing years before playing Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Not that Alex and Clear had much time for romance while cheating death, but it’s certainly implied that the two are headed in that direction if they survive. The thing is, if they had done Final Destination, it’s likely they might not have landed their Spider-Man roles.
Tobey Maguire Likely Left Final Destination to Star in Spider-Man
While it’s not publicly known exactly why Maguire and Dunst ended up not starring in Final Destination, it’s a logical guess that Spider-Man had something to do with it. While Spider-Man didn’t begin filming until 2001, Maguire was officially cast as Peter Parker just a few months after Final Destination released in theaters. Dunst was cast as Mary Jane later, but has said that Maguire being cast is what inspired her to audition for MJ, since she was familiar with his work in prior independent films and thought his presence would give Spider-Man more of an indie feel. Considering that the casting process for a major blockbuster begins long before production actually starts, it’s quite possible that Maguire turned down his role in Final Destination so that he could actively pursue Spider-Man, and his exit from Final Destination then influenced Dunst’s own departure.
More: 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Final Destination Series
