As actors speak out amid the strike with allegations the studios have taken advantage of them, actor Devon Sawa is sharing how his “Final Destination” image was once used without his permission.
The original “Final Destination” franchise lead shared in a since-deleted tweet that the studios behind “Final Destination 5” used his image for the 2011 sequel without informing him or paying Sawa at all.
“I never got paid a cent for ‘Final Destination 5.’ They didn’t even tell me I was in it when they invited me to the premiere,” Sawa wrote. “In the first contract for part one there was a section that stated they owned the footage and could use it in the future. I assumed for press. I was wrong.”
Sawa added, “This has nothing to do with the filmmakers by the way. I loved ‘FD5.’ I love them all to be completely honest. And I’m super excited to see number six.”
“Final Destination 5” was distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by New Line, Practical Pictures, and Zide/Perry Productions. The scene in question comes as part of the twist of the film, with “Final Destination 5” being a surprise prequel to the original. Sawa is shown from the 2000 first movie in a full circle moment involving his character boarding the plane that kicked off the initial disaster film, alongside the “Final Destination 5” characters.
The issue of studios owning footage and likenesses of actors and franchise characters has in part led to the current work stoppage order after failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over streaming compensation, AI, and fair pay. Actors like Sean Gunn, Kimiko Glenn, and Jana Schmieding have slammed the streaming residual practices, citing issues with Netflix, Warner Bros., and Hulu.
As for AI and used footage, similar to Sawa’s statement, Samuel L. Jackson recently spoke out about being “scanned” for franchises to use his image even without his consent. Jackson noted he was scanned both for Marvel and the “Star Wars” prequel films.
“Ever since I’ve been in the Marvel Universe, every time you change costumes in a Marvel movie, they scan you,” Jackson said. “Ever since I did ‘Captain Marvel,’ and they did the Lola project where they de-aged me and everything else, it’s like, ‘Well, I guess they can do this anytime they want to do it if they really want to.’”
Jackson added that A.I. “could be something to worry about” for actors, saying, “Future actors should do what I always do when I get a contract, and it has the words ‘in perpetuity’ and ‘known and unknown’ on it: I cross that shit out. It’s my way of saying, ‘No, I do not approve of this.’”
