EXCLUSIVE: Following the successful relaunch of Scream, Sony Pictures is looking to blow new life in to its own slasher franchise as sources tell Deadline that Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has been tapped to direct a sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer, with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr in talks to reprise their roles. Insiders say the project is in early development and that Neal H. Moritz is in talks to return as producer, with Leah McKendrick on board to write the script.
Sony had no comment on the project.
The original pic follows four young friends bound by a tragic accident who are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town. The original was a hit and not only led to a sequel but also helped launch the careers of Hewitt, Prinze, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. Plot details for this latest installment are unknown.
While McKendrick is penning the pic, the idea for the new film came from Robinson and McKendrick, who blew away studio execs when they pitched this idea for a sequel last fall, especially given the recent success of the Scream franchise. That film was recently relaunched with original cast members returning, and the idea of bringing back original castmembers to draw in old-school fans while also adding fresh faces to relaunch the series was too good for the studio to pass up. Another big factor was the recent success of Robinson’s Netflix pic Do Revenge, which was lauded for its throwbacks to late-’90s pics like Cruel Intentions and was something execs knew Robinson could tap into when developing the new story.
Sony also saw it important to not reboot the franchise but do a sort of “passing of the torch”-type sequel where original castmembers are brought back as a new generation cast members are added to the ensemble, similar to films like Scream or Creed. 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.
For Robinson, Do Revenge was her most recent directing outing and earned her high marks for a first-time filmmaker. Prior to that, she was a writer on Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder and was a consulting producer on Hawkeye.
Outside the Marvel universe, Robinson also penned Unpregnant for HBO Max, and her directing debut for Netflix was Someone Great. She is repped by CAA and Gotham Group.
McKendrick wrote, produced and co-starred in the vigilante thriller M.F.A. alongside Francesca Eastwood, which premiered at SXSW. Leah’s rom-com feature Voicemails For Isabelle was preempted by Sony and landed her on The Black List in 2019. She is repped by UTA, Kaplan Perrone and VanderKloot Law.
Next up for her Scrambled, which stars McKendrick as Nellie Robinson, a broke, single 34-year-old, fresh off a breakup, who faces down an existential crisis when she decides to freeze her eggs. McKendrick wrote the script following her own egg-retrieval experience last year. The film will make its world premiere at this years SXSW festival.
Hewitt and Prinze are repped by Gersh. Hewitt is also repped by Vault Entertainment and Prinze by Brillstein Entertainment.
