It has been reported that Sony Pictures, inspired by the successful relaunch of the Scream franchise by Paramount, is intending on reigniting its own slasher franchise, I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Deadline reports that a sequel to the pair of slasher flicks from the late 1990s has been green-lit by the studio with its original stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. both locked in negotiations to reprise their roles in the sequel. Deadline notes that the project is still believed to be in early development, but that producer Neal H. Moritz is also in talks to return in the same role, alongside Leah McKendrick who is on board to write the script.

The report adds that Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is attached to the production as the director. Robinson was the creator of the MTV show Sweet/Vicious, as well as the director of the Netflix film Something Great, which was well received by critics. She was also credited as co-writer on Thor: Love and Thunder alongside Taika Waititi for Disney and Marvel.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ryan Phillippe in I Know What You Did Last Summer featured
Image via Columbia Pictures

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'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Was a Star Making Vehicle

The original film, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, launched the careers of Hewitt, Prinze, Ryan Philippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who all starred in the film that followed four young friends who were tied together by a terrible accident and find themselves reunited when a psychopath wielding a hook begins stalking them, aware of their knowledge of the accident about which they had told nobody. It also spawned a sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

The film is believed to be the idea of Robinson and McKendrick, who is said to have blown studio executives away when pitching the idea for a sequel in the wake of the massive success seen by the Scream reboot. The idea of a horror franchise being rebooted and revitalized by the returning cast to entice older fans, and bringing on board younger stars to gain new viewers, was an idea Sony didn't want to miss.

Robinson's last film for Netflix, Do Revenge, was also lauded for its throwbacks to films from the 1990s like Cruel Intentions, with the success of it being a key factor in studio executives approving both her idea for the film, and for hiring her to helm the film from beginning to end.

The original film grossed $125.3 million from a $17 million budget, with the sequel being quickly green-lit and pushed into production for release the next year. However, it was poorly reviewed and only grossed $84 million on a budget of $24 million. A direct-to-video sequel, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, was released in 2006.

No plot details on the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel are available as yet, but we'll bring you details as soon as they become available.