As fellow Kevin Williamson franchise Scream finds new life, a I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel has been revealed to be in development. The original slasher thriller was based on the novel of the same name, in which a group of young adults find themselves stalked by a hook-wielding killer after covering up their seeming murder of a pedestrian while driving. Primarily starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., the I Know What You Did Last Summer movies weren't critical hits, but were box office successes, and have since garnered cult followings.
Deadline has brought word that Sony is moving forward with development on an I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel. The film is said be helmed by Do Revenge's Jennifer Kaytin Robinson on a script from Leah McKendrick while Neal H. Moritz is in talks to produce. Though the studio themselves have yet to comment at the time of writing, original stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. are also in talks to return for the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel.
Why Legacy Sequels Are The Latest Horror Trend
With a new I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel in the works, it continues the horror genre's recent trend of making legacy sequels to many iconic properties. Though 2016's Blair Witch marked one of the earlier examples of such, 2018's Halloween, which acted as a direct sequel to the 1978 original, helped popularize the concept when it debuted to rave reviews and box office success, launching its own trilogy. The Jordan Peele co-written and produced Candyman legacy sequel continued this trend of success as it was met with better reviews than the original and modest box office numbers.
One of the more prominent recent examples of a legacy-type sequel was that of 2022's Scream which, while technically not retconning its predecessors, did largely focus on a new set of characters while still featuring such original favorites as Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott and David Arquette's Dewey Riley. With Scream 6 continuing to primarily focus on the new characters, namely Jenna Ortega's Tara and Melissa Barrera's Sam, while also featuring Gale and Hayden Panettiere's Kirby, it is set to be one of the most unique sequels yet as it moves away from Woodsboro to head to New York City.
The reports for the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel indicate that Robinson and McKendrick, who pitched the project to Sony together, are taking a page out of Scream's book by making it a "passing of the torch" story from original cast to new generation cast members. With the film still early in development, it's difficult to tell whether it will achieve the same success of the Ghostface-fronted franchise or hit the same low as Netflix's Texas Chainsaw Massacre legacy sequel. While audiences await further updates, they can revisit the original I Know What You Did Last Summer streaming on Netflix now.
Source: Deadline