If there was ever a trend that defined 1990s cinema, it was the high school slasher thriller. From Scream to Urban Legend, audiences couldn’t get enough of teens running for their lives from masked killers with sinister motives. But among the standout titles, I Know What You Did Last Summer cemented its place in pop culture, thanks to its haunting premise and the faceless killer in a fisherman’s slicker. Now, nearly three decades later, the franchise returns to the big screen with a new chapter that promises blood, secrets, and plenty of nostalgic horror thrills.
Everybody should remember what they did last summer. And if you don’t, someone does… especially if that someone is a hook-wielding murderer you tried to leave for dead. So “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” Grab your popcorn, clutch your seats, and get ready for a terrifying reunion with I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, hitting Australian cinemas 17 July, 2025.
The original I Know What You Did Last Summer debuted on 17 October, 1997 and was an immediate hit, grossing over $125.3 million globally on a modest $17 million budget. It held the top spot at the U.S. box office for three consecutive weeks, and its success—alongside that of Scream—helped breathe new life into the slasher genre for a generation who grew up on twist endings, masked killers, and chilling chase scenes.
Its impact was significant enough to warrant parody in Scary Movie (2000), and the film is frequently referenced in everything from TV shows to Halloween costumes. It turned its four young leads—Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr.—into overnight stars and introduced horror fans to one of the genre’s most memorable villains: the silent, shadowy Fisherman.
The 1997 film was followed by I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1998, with Hewitt and Prinze Jr. reprising their roles. A less successful, straight-to-video sequel, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, arrived in 2006 with a fresh cast. Most recently, the franchise was reimagined as a streaming series on Amazon Prime Video in 2021. But now, the saga comes full circle with a legacy sequel—bringing back the original cast for an all-new nightmare.
In this fresh chapter, five friends find themselves in familiar, sinister territory after a deadly car accident changes their lives forever. Rather than face the consequences, they agree to keep it quiet and move on. But when a year passes and their lives begin to unravel, it becomes clear that someone knows what they did… and they’re out for blood.
As the group is hunted one by one, they begin to suspect they’re not the first to suffer this fate. Desperate, they turn to two survivors of the 1997 Southport Massacre, Julie James and Ray Bronson, for help. Yes, the Fisherman is back, and the hooks are sharper than ever.
The killer returns to a revamped version of Southport, North Carolina, still the sun-drenched seaside town we remember, but now with even more secrets lurking beneath the surface. With a new generation at risk and the past refusing to stay buried, audiences can expect a rollercoaster of suspense, tension, and shock right up until the final act.
“Our film is about marrying a nostalgic nineties feel with today’s slasher films,” says Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who serves as director, co-screenwriter, and executive producer. “That combination is in everything—the film’s design, its score, and the way we developed the kills, each of which feels like something you’ve never seen before but also takes us back to the kind of movie that we rarely see anymore. It’s why people love this franchise.”
For star Jonah Hauer-King, who makes his horror debut in this film, the project blends all the best elements of the genre. “There’s all the fear factor, mystery, blood, and slasher stuff, which is brilliant,” he says. “We introduce some great new characters to root for, and Jenn and the other writers have brought a contemporary, fresh humour to it. There’s a wink, which is fun because the horror and comedy are intertwined and play off each other nicely.”
Robinson also wanted to visually echo the original film while giving the new one its own identity. “When you’re murdering a bunch of hot young people, you want it to have that old-school Americana feel to it: blue blues, red blood, and beautiful colours and skin tones,” she says. “It was fun to juxtapose the violence with this outwardly beautiful world of Southport, which of course has an underbelly that’s nasty, gory, and violent.”
To ensure authenticity in the film’s visuals, production was moved to Australia, providing summer conditions during the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn, and a beautiful yet haunting coastal backdrop that mimicked North Carolina’s charm.
Perhaps the most exciting element for longtime fans is the return of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Julie and Ray. Their reunion isn’t just a cameo—it’s a full-circle moment for the franchise and its audience.
Hewitt made it clear that she’d only return if her character played a meaningful part in the story. As she told Parade, “If I’m going to come back 27 years later, I don’t want to just be in it for five seconds. I don’t want it to just be that thing like, ‘Oh, there’s the ghost of I Know What You Did past, there she is.’ I want to carve out the time to really be in it, to make it matter for people.”
Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson worked closely with Hewitt and Prinze Jr. to ensure their characters’ journeys were authentic and emotionally resonant. “We wanted to know, how would something like this affect them 27 years later? Who would they become, and how will that inform how they advise and help this younger group?” she explains.
Hewitt’s Julie is now a college professor specialising in the psychology of fear and trauma. When new character Ava comes to her for help, Julie is drawn back into the nightmare she thought she had long buried. “Julie is all the things that she was but more grown up and wiser,” says Hewitt. “She retains all the gumption and moxie she learned over those earlier stories, and now brings all that with her.”
The 2025 chapter features a talented ensemble cast including Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, and Austin Nichols—alongside returning stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr.
With a mix of old and new, nostalgia and innovation, the next generation of Southport teens are about to learn the hard way: secrets never stay buried, and the past has a way of catching up with you… hook, line, and sinker.
Producer Neal H. Moritz sums it up best: “It’s not just about nostalgia; it’s about honouring where this all started. Jennifer and Freddie showed up, gave it their all, and their presence grounds everything. It meant a lot to us and it will mean a lot to the fans.”
If you’re going to do anything this summer, make sure it involves popcorn, friends, and a fisherman on the big screen – not half dead in the river.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
In cinemas across Australia from 17 July 2025.
