 Final Destination is a 2000 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wong , and is the first installment of the Final Destination film series . The screenplay was written by James Wong , Glen Morgan , and Jeffrey Reddick , based on a story by Reddick . The film stars Devon Sawa , Ali Larter , Kerr Smith , and Tony Todd . Sawa portrays a teenager who cheats death after having a premonition of a catastrophic plane explosion . He and several of his classmates leave the plane before the explosion occurs , but Death later takes the lives of those who were meant to die on the plane . 
