Info started streaming in, with Deadline being the first to confirm on Monday, February 6, that Sony agreed to produce a sequel to the 90s slasher horror franchise I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Neal H. Moritz will probably be tapped to return as the film's producer, and Leah McKendrick to scribe the screenplay. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who co-wrote Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder alongside Taika Waititi, will direct the sequel.
Sources have it that Robinson and McKendrick blew Sony executives away last fall with their epic pitch of the return of the slasher film with some old casts to lure old-school fans while incorporating fresh faces for younger audiences.
Sony bought the idea of not rebooting the franchise but doing a sort of passing on the baton where the original casts return to a modern era with a new ensemble as Paramount did with its Scream franchise.
Once the execs were onboard, Robinson’s next step was to tap Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. to reprise their roles, which they are game.
So, we have a sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer! But of course, since the movie is in its pre-production phase, not much is known about its plot or cast members.
I Know What You Did Last Summer hit theaters in 1997 and featured the original casts of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Prinze Jr., Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, Anne Heche and Muse Watson.
It revolved around a group of friends who accidentally hit a fisherman and decided to dump his body in a lake, assuming he was dead. The following Summer, they start facing macabre misfortunes as a hook-wielding, raincoat-and-booted man preys on them. Most characters faced their untimely death except Love Hewitt and Prinze Jr.’s characters.
The duo returned for the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) alongside Mekhi Phifer, Brandy, Matthew Settle and Muse Watson, with their characters barely making it out alive.
The third film, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006), featured new cast members Torrey DeVitto, David Paetkau, Brooke Nevin, Seth Packard, Ben Easter, Star LaPoint, K.C. Clyde and Don Shanks but with the same plot.
The 1997 film topped the box office list for three consecutive weeks since its debut and grossed $125 million. It was also nominated for several awards, including the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and the MTV Movie Awards.
The franchise also spawned the TV series I Know What You Did Last Summer, produced by Amazon and Sony. It premiered in October 2021 and was axed in January last year after one season containing eight episodes. The series is available on Prime Video.
Meanwhile, you can catch up on the films as we wait for further developments about the sequel. Here’s where you can find them:
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)- Watch on Netflix
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)- Watch on Hulu
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)- Rent/buy on Prime Video or Apple TV.