Last month, it was announced that – twenty-six years after the release of the the slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer (watch it HERE) and twenty-five years after the follow-up I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (watch that one HERE) – Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) has signed on to direct an I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel from a screenplay by Leah McKendrick (M.F.A.), with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. in talks to reprise the roles of Julie James and Ray Bronson. But in an interview with TooFab, Prinze revealed that he wasn’t, and still isn’t, actually in talks to star in the sequel. In fact, he hadn’t heard of the project at all until that announcement was made.
Prinze told TooFab, “I have been offered nothing, nothing. They just said that to get people excited. I haven’t spoken to anyone at their company, my agents haven’t received an offer from them whatsoever. I had a conversation with the director a few days after they announced that, just to be like, ‘Yo, what the hell? Why are they saying I’m going to be in a movie I’m probably not going to be in?’ And she said, ‘Let me pitch you the idea.’ So she’s spoken to me about the idea, but I haven’t said yes, I haven’t received an offer. I have no reason to lie to anyone, I have no skin in the game. I’m only gonna do things that I like and work with people that I like and there’s not gonna be any wiggle room this time around. I messed up the first time around, this time I just want to do stuff I’m passionate about.“
Prinze has been doing a lot of voicework, and recently went several years without having an on-screen role. His roles in the Punky Brewster TV series revival, the Netflix movie Christmas with You, and his cameo in Clerks III have been described as something of a comeback.
Prinze went on to tell TooFab that he would like to see the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel have a basis in reality, there shouldn’t be any supernatural aspects (as there were in the direct-to-video movie I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, which didn’t involve the Julie James or Ray Bronson characters). “I don’t like that, it just makes me think of old ’80s movies like Soapdish. That’s what it’d feel like for me if everybody came back fine or (hook-wielding slasher) Ben Willis was like, ‘I’m back again, 20 years older, I can’t move that well, arthritis.’ Hopefully they find an organic and just base everything in reality. … The cool thing about I Know What You Did Last Summer was you had four people feeling very differently about a horrible event. You had anger from [Ryan Phillippe], you had guilt from [Hewitt], you had fear from [Sarah Michelle Gellar] and you had regret from me. That was all screenwriter Kevin Williamson. That’s what made it special, it was four people reacting honestly, all four were relatable in a different way. I don’t know if they’re gonna have 4, 5, 10 kids, no kids, I don’t know what they’re gonna do. But hopefully it stays rooted in reality. I think that’s the best way to do horror, or you have to fully commit to the Freddy Krueger of it all. Which is awesome, they’re my favorite movies, but they’re ridiculous. So you have to lean all the way into it or all the way out.“
When the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel was first announced, it was said that the studio thought it was important to not reboot the franchise but do a sort of “passing of the torch” type of sequel where original cast members are brought back while a new generation cast members are added to the ensemble, similar to films like Creed or another 90s horror classic Scream. Once the idea was pitched by Robinson and McKendrick, the next step was getting Hewitt and Prinze back on board, which the two were game for after hearing the pitch. Now we know that Prinze hadn’t even heard the pitch yet at that point.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was directed by Jim Gillespie from a screenplay by Kevin Williamson. The film has the following synopsis: A year after running over a fisherman and dumping his body in the water, four friends reconvene when Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) receives a frightening letter telling her that their crime was seen. While pursuing who he thinks is responsible for the letter, Barry (Ryan Phillippe) is run over by a man with a meat hook. The bloodletting only increases from there, as the killer with the hook continues to stalk Julie, Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.).
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was directed by Danny Cannon from a screenplay by Trey Callaway. The synopsis: A year after killing vengeful hit-and-run victim Ben Wills (Muse Watson), who gutted her friends with an iron hook, college student Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is still shaken by the experience. When her roommate, Karla (Brandy), wins a vacation for four to the Bahamas, she plans to bring along her boyfriend, Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer), attractive Will (Matthew Settle) and Julie. At the resort, Julie starts receiving threatening notes and realizes Ben is still alive.
What do you think of the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel announcement saying Freddie Prinze Jr. was in talks to star in the film when he hadn’t even heard about it yet? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.