According to Final Destination's original script, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) was supposed to die in the movie, but he did not — here's how the final product differs from the original. Releasing in 2000, James Wong's horror flick kickstarted an entire franchise that currently includes five movies with a sixth set to premiere in 2022. When he first introduced the concept of death's design, it became a major marker in horror history that set Final Destination apart from others. There were several iterations of the script, but the true original features a gruesome death to the pivotal character Alex Browning.
The screenplay was written by James Wong, Glen Morgan, and Jeffrey Reddick. When Reddick first conceived of the project, it was presented as a spec script for The X-Files. After a fellow colleague read it, they convinced the screenwriter to expand the script into a feature-length movie, which resulted in Final Destination. It follows a group of high schoolers who set out on an exciting trip to France. After they board Flight 180, Alex Browning has a premonition that it will explode on take-off that makes him convince several of his fellow classmates to get off of the plane. He has disrupted death's design and, as a result, comes back to take the lives that should've been lost on Flight 180.
While there are several loopholes and exceptions to death's design, these do not come into effect until well over half of the survivors have died. The first to go is Tod Waggner (Chad Donella), whose death is the most unsettling in the series, then Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer), Valerie Lewton (Kristen Cloke), and Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott). This leaves Alex, Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), and Carter Horton (Kerr Smith) as the only three remaining. By the end of the movie, their deaths are unknown until Final Destination 2 reveals that they've all died except for Clear. According to the original script, Alex should've died in the movie, but he didn't. In fact, this change made the entire ending different, and was ultimately the best decision.
Alex's final scene was set to take place in a Toyota Corolla where he and Clear would be sitting until it ignited. Once Clear leaves the vehicle, it bursts into flames with Alex inside of it. There's an entire scene that changes the trajectory of the Final Destination franchise that quickly follows the discovery of his body. It swiftly shifts to find Clear in a hospital delivering her and Alex's baby, which, according to death's design in Final Destination 2, makes her unable to die, as well as Carter. In order to continue the franchise, they had to ensure that there weren't any remaining survivors from Flight 180.
While they did bring Clear back for Final Destination 2, Carter did not return. Instead, he died in Paris with Alex in the final scene of the original movie. If she had delivered the baby at the end of Final Destination, it would've made her and Carter recurring characters that would've had to return to the franchise. It could have even led to Alex Browning II - the name given to their baby - to star in the upcoming sixth installment with the same powers of premonition as his father. This may have been an excellent opportunity to tie everything together, but also posed a threat to the franchise's integrity.
There would've been several shifts to each movie that came from the original Final Destination, had Alex died. However, it could've also given audiences a clear understanding as to how Clear survived. Babies and pregnancy are relatively complex when integrated into death's design. There's little to no reasoning behind how she survived the Paris incident that took the lives of both Alex and Carter. Had she been pregnant, this would've given ample explanation as to how she was able to assist the freeway crash survivors in Final Destination 2. There are plot holes that Alex's death could've resolved in the sequel to Final Destination, but it also ran the risk of restricting its ability to become a franchise, which is likely why it was changed for the final product.