Last updated on October 17th, 2025 at 04:34 am
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
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.
Co-writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson had a recent interview with People about the film and what fans can expect, saying: “It is not a serious movie. It is a really fun, popcorn summer event” adding that the horror elements are “ratcheted up to a hundred in this — it’s much more brutal.” She goes on to say: “There’s definitely more methodology to every kill in this movie, unlike the first, which is kind of just him stalking them and going after them. There’s not a lot of gore or blood or violence in the first one. There certainly is in this one.” Lastly, she went on to say the following: “We approached it like super fans, so I think people are going to be really happy. All the things that you want to see in this movie, you’re going to see in this movie.” (4/8/25)
Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson had another interview with People, revealing more details on the film and whether we can expect the return of Brandy’s character, who survived at the end of I Still Know.. When asked directly if she’d return Robinson responded with “you’ll have to go see the movie.” She continues… “We actually got in a really big fight about the canon of I Still Know. One of our first big fights together about this project was we were both talking about just how much weight it should hold in Julie’s story — because what happens in that movie is so, so, so, so crazy that it would probably make you never trust anyone again.” Adding… “I was like, ‘Okay, but this is a fun horror movie. And I don’t think we should make it a meditation on the fact that this woman was lured to the Bahamas by someone she thought wanted to date her but actually wanted to kill her. We have one really, really fantastic nod to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer that people are going to love.” (4/8/25)
Jennifer Love Hewitt revealed earlier via social media that she is officially back as Julie James in this sequel. (12/13/24)
Freddie Prinze Jr. has officially signed on to the project and will be reprising his role as Ray Bronson from the first two movies. At the moment, Jennifer Love Hewitt has yet to sign on and is reportedly still in negotiations. (9/23/24)
Actress Camila Mendes had to drop out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. So far the studio has not announced a replacement. (9/4/24)
Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson cleared up some rumors recently over social media. Apparently a rumor was going around indicating that I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is going to be ignored and this new sequel would take place after the first. That’s not true, according to Robinson, the sequel is “canon,” so looks like this’ll take place after the second movie. However, it’s safe to say the third installment (that went straight to video) will be ignored. (7/31/24)
Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt revealed in a recent interview that she still isn’t officially signed on to the project, saying: “It’s in the cooker, let me just say that. I’ve done a couple of preliminary phone calls. I keep getting these messages from people going, ‘We’re so excited!’ I’m like, ‘Okay, but the train is moving really fast, and I haven’t gotten there yet.’ But it’s nice to know that people are excited at the possibility. Honestly, it’s wild to even think about. Truly, if it comes together, I don’t even know how I’m gonna feel except extremely overwhelmed and grateful” She goes on to say that also being older will bring something new for the role, saying: “Honestly, [I’m] terrified because it’s 26 years later. There’s power in being older, there’s power in having gone off and had 3 kids and there’s a sense of, ‘I can do anything now.’ The vulnerability that was Julie James in 1 and 2 definitely doesn’t exist in this one, I don’t think. I’m excited to just show her grown up. I think she’s gotta go nuts. I don’t know who she’s fighting, but whoever it is is not gonna stand a chance. Between me and a stunt double, we got this. I don’t play Julie James dead. That’s what I’m saying. I’ve said that at 18, and I’m gonna say it now at 45 so it doesn’t happen. If it all works out and (the movie) happens, I am ready to bring her back with 26 years of angst, knowledge, kick-assery, which I am turning into a word, and have some fun with it.” (5/28/24)
The studio has set a July 18th 2025 theatrical release. Jennifer Love Hewitt (Julie James in the previous movies) and Freddie Prinze Jr. (Ray Bronson in the previous movies) are expected to reprise their roles. (5/16/24)
Writer Leah McKendrick had a recent interview where she explained her thought process with the new film, saying: “..more than anything I thought, ‘Because my love is so deep for I Know What You Did Last Summer, I have to protect it. I must protect it. I can’t let this be, like, cheesy and a cash grab.’ Not that anybody was gonna make it that, but you would get it, Perri. When it’s like they’re rebooting something that you love so deeply from your childhood, you’re like, ‘I know how we can do this and not make it cheesy, and it can stay true to the mythology, and we can bring back the OGs, and it can be a culmination.’ You have all these ideas.”
She continues… “So I met with Jen. Jen is so cool, Jen is so smart. Jen is just, like, down to try some edgy, cool-ass shit. And I was like, ‘I’m gonna give this my best shot,’ and I pitched. All they told me was they were like, ‘We need to know the accident, the event that kicks it off, and know who the killer is.’ Because they knew that if I had to do a whole fleshed out process of pitching, I was probably just not gonna do it because my heart had been so broken by the reboot game. But when they told me that, I was like, ‘I know what I’m gonna do.’ And no spoilers, but I will say that I think if you’re an OG fan like me and you, I think you’re gonna be happy. I think you’re gonna get it.”
Lastly she had this to say: “At its core, I think it really reckons with some big ideas about hero and villain, right and wrong, how your skeletons come back to haunt you. And in the age of the internet and the age where fame is such a revered concept, the creation of TikTok and social media, who is Julie James in a world where there are no secrets anymore? I already feel like I’m saying too much, but I think at its core, if you watch the original, I don’t know if you’ve watched it recently, I obviously watched 8 million times while working on it, but it’s fun . It’s just a popcorn, wild ride. It’s campy at times, Jennifer Love Hewitt is so hot, Freddie Prinze Jr. is so hot. Sarah Michelle [Gellar], Ryan [Phillippe], they’re so gorgeous. It’s like beautiful people behaving badly. You just can’t get enough of it. There’s a lot of that in this film.” (3/6/24)
Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge).
Co-written by Leah McKendrick (M.F.A.).
Much like what the studio has done with the recent Scream sequels, it’s said that this will also be a “passing of the torch-type sequel where original cast members are brought back as a new generation of cast members are added to the ensemble.”
Original producer Neal Moritz returns to produce once again.
Amazon rebooted the franchise with a series in 2021 only to be cancelled after one season.
Based on the novel with the same name by Lois Duncan, the first film came out in 1997 and the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer came out a year later. A third installment titled I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer was released straight-to-DVD in 2006 and featured none of the original cast.
This project was originally reported to be a remake of the 1997 film when it was originally announced in 2014. At the time Mike Flanagan (Oculus, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) was attached to script.
This is said to be a new “legacy sequel” in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise.
Sony Pictures released I Know What You Did Last Summer in Cinemas in Australia on July 17, 2025.
Sony Pictures released I Know What You Did Last Summer in Cinemas in India on July 18, 2025.
Sony Pictures Releasing released I Know What You Did Last Summer in Cinemas in the UK on July 18, 2025.
Sony Pictures Releasing released I Know What You Did Last Summer in Theaters on July 18, 2025.
Sony Pictures released I Know What You Did Last Summer on VOD and Digital Platforms on August 26, 2025.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released I Know What You Did Last Summer on 4K Blu-ray Limited Edition SteelBook, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 7, 2025.
I Know What You Did Last Summer premiered on Netflix on October 16, 2025.
Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
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