Following the massive success of Paramount’s Scream revival, it was only a matter of time before another iconic ’90s slasher got the legacy sequel treatment. Now,I Know What You Did Last Summer is officially next in line. Deadline unveiled that Kaytin Robinson, best known for directing Netflix’s (surprisingly excellent) Do Revenge, was tapped to lead the project. Neal H. Moritz, a producer on the original film, is returning, and screenwriter Leah McKendrick is set to pen the script.
After a slew of casting reports, today we have an official poster and synopsis for the new film. And honestly, they both kind of slay. Sony Pictures has just unveiled the first official poster and the synopsis for the upcoming installment—and it sounds like a bloody good time. Here’s how the plot is described:
“When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences. A year later, their past comes back to haunt them and they’re forced to confront a horrifying truth: someone knows what they did last summer… and is hell-bent on revenge. As one by one the friends are stalked by a killer, they discover this has happened before, and they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997 for help.”
Insiders say Robinson and McKendrick impressed Sony executives with their bold vision for the sequel. The timing couldn’t be better, with audiences hungry for more nostalgia-fueled horror after the roaring comeback of the Scream series. It’s worth noting that Kevin Williamson created both franchises and have always shared similar DNA as self-aware, generation-defining slashers. Each also saw a brief life as TV reboots in the past decade.
Like Scream 5, the new I Know What You Did Last Summer is being positioned as a “passing of the torch,” connecting the original cast to a new generation. Fan favorites Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. are confirmed to reprise their iconic roles, stepping back into the story nearly three decades later.
The official poster art for I Know What You Did Last Summer
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. will be joined by a stacked cast of rising stars and familiar faces: Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid), Tyriq Withers (Atlanta), Sarah Pidgeon (Tiny Beautiful Things), Billy Campbell (The Rocketeer), model and musician Gabbriette (of Charli xcx 360 fame), Austin Nichols (The Day After Tomorrow), Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty), and Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story).
Sarah Michelle Gellar was allegedly offered the chance to reprise her role of Helen Shivers in the title after appearing in Kaytin Robinson’s Do Revenge and becoming friends with the filmmaker. Still, she turned it down since she was explicitly killed off in the first film. She’s been reported to have been seen on set and is married to Prinze, so maybe there’s still a chance of a cameo.
Check out the trailer for the original film below to get yourself into the mood:
What do you think? Are you hooked yet? Let me know on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I am always around to discuss everything I Know What You Did Last Summer.
