HUGE news today, slasher fans; Deadline have revealed in an exclusive that a sequel to 1997’s iconic slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer is in the works at Sony Pictures.
As if this wasn’t enough, series stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. are apparently in talks to reprise their roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson respectively. AND IT GETS EVEN BETTER: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, director of 2022’s teen black comedy Do Revenge is tapped to direct. Neal H. Moritz is in talks to return as producer with M.F.A.‘s Leah McKendrick on board to write the script.
The original I Know What You Did Last Summer (directed by Jim Gillespie) follows ‘four young friends bound by a tragic accident who are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.’ Along with Wes Craven’s 1996 classic Scream, the film was partly responsible for revitalizing the slasher genre in the ’90s boom, as well as helping to launch the careers of Hewitt, Prinze, Buffy superstar Sarah Michelle Gellar and Cruel Intentions’ Ryan Phillippe.
According to Deadline, the idea to breathe new life into the long dormant franchise (the last entry, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer was released in 2006) was partly inspired by the recent success of the Scream (2022). Deadline reports that Robin and McKendrick pitched the sequel and that: ‘…original cast members returning and the idea of bringing back original cast members to draw in old school fans of the franchise while also adding fresh faces to relaunch the series was too good for the studio to pass up on.’
Deadline also reports that Sony were keen to avoid a by-the-numbers reboot and instead create a “passing of the torch” type of sequel, that mixed returning original cast members with a new generation (so, like Scream ’22). Hewitt and Prinze were reportedly ‘game for’ the new sequel after hearing the pitch.
Plot details for this latest installment are still unknown, with Sony not yet issuing comment on the project. But best believe now that we’re totally HOOKED on this exciting news, you can expect all the updates as soon as we get them.
