The apparently unkillable slasher franchise springs back to life with this sequel/reboot/whatever.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) shares a name with I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), which might lead you to believe it’s a remake. It’s not. It is, in fact, a sequel. Much like Halloween (2018) is a sequel to Halloween (1978). Halloween (2018) ignores all the existing sequels, so it’s just a direct follow up to Halloween (1978). Halloween H20 (1998) did the same thing. So does I Know What You Did Last Summer, except that it also holds onto I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). So it goes I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). We’re ignoring I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006) and the series I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021), just like we did when they were released.
All I know is sequel naming conventions used to mean something. You knew where you stood with a Roman numeral. Anyway, here’s the trailer:
Interesting. As you may recall if you’re old AF, the OG I Know What You Did Last Summer saw four friends stalked by a hook-wielding maniac, the Fisherman, after they covered up a fatal car accident. And that’s pretty much the model for the series going forward – guilty secrets and bloody murder. The whole franchise is derived from Lois Duncan’s 1973 novel, I Know What You Did Last Summer, but don’t expect to find too many points in common with Duncan’s teen morality play – we are firmly in slasher territory here.
Jennifer Love Hewitt returns as final girl Julie James, as does fellow franchise veteran Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray Bronson. Prinze’s wife and Last Summer co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar declined to return, pointing out that her character was dead. But the actual stars are a whole new crop, including Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks) as Danica and Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies Bodies Bodies) as Eva. Also in the mix are Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Austin Nichols, Gabbriette Bechtel, Lola Tung, and Nicholas Alexander Chavez.
This one’s coming to us from director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Lansky, from a story by Robinson and Leah McKendrick. Robinson previously gave us the pretty great Do Revenge (2022), but she also co-wrote the pretty unwatchable Thor: Love and Thunder (2024), so there’s that.
I Know What You Did Last Summer is in Australian cinemas from July 25, 2025.
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