The Final Destination franchise has always been a hit in Australia. Although their grosses (except #4) were average for any other film, for a horror flick they've done alright. It seemed like they were releasing a sequel every 3 years (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, but now 2011).

The first Final Destination opened on April 13, and grossed a so-so $600k in it's debut weekend, but it's great marketing and word-of-mouth got the film up 30% in ticket sales for a 2nd weekend of $800k, which is very rarely seen in horror. Usual drops followed, and the film finished it's theatrical run with a good $2,878,118 to be the 66th best grossing flick of the year.

3 years later, March 6 saw the release of the 2nd film. Marketed extremely well, the flick opened with $927k for a #2 rank. A great 2nd weekend hold, the film was tracking better than it's preceeder. The flick's standing gross is $3,057,719, and was the 80th best grossing flick of the year

Another three years pass and the franchise still shows some legs. Final Destination 3 was released in the same season, just like it's preceeders, and on it's April 27th weekend opened with just under $1m. It's 2nd weekend saw a steep drop, but showed a little staying power in following weeks. The 3rd flick didn't fare too well with critics, but with a $2,610,952 the film was the 93rd best flick of the year, but lowest grossing of the franchise.

Again, three years later and another FD flick hits our screens in October. Heavily marketed, and only released in 3D in Australia, the flick really needed to draw in crowds to be a hit. Released on a very small (but still considered wide) release of 90 (when the flick was released, not many cinemas in Australia had 3D compatable screens) screens, the flick debuted at #1 with a great $2,089,606. By the end of it's first week, the flick had already outgrossed the 2nd film to become the highest grossing of the franchise. Usual horror blows of 50% each weekend, gave the film a closing gross of $5,859,256. It was the 56th best grossing flick of 2009. The flick was also claimed as "The Final Destination", which was clearly not the case

Now, in 2011, we will see whether the franchise has run out of luck, or struck gold once again. Final Destination 5 will be released around the same time as #4 was, most likely in order to cash in again, and this will also be in 3D. In my personal opinion, I doubt this film will reach the heights of the fourth film, but may possibly reach the $4m mark at best. I think 3D is very overused nowadays (when #4 was released, little 3D films were around). The flick will definitely be a hit, but nothing major.