Summary

• The new sequel is a direct follow-up to "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", staying true to the franchise's continuity.
• Challenges for the sequel include resolving the ambiguous ending and introducing a killer with a believable connection to the original accident.
• Suggestions to fix these challenges include introducing a new character seeking revenge or exploring unexpected twists in the killer reveal.

I Know What You Did Last Summer’s newest sequel is currently in development, and among its latest updates is its place in the franchise’s timeline, which only makes two challenges even bigger, and they could potentially ruin the franchise. The trend of legacy sequels in the horror genre continues, and among the sequels in development, which will also revive the franchise, is I Know What You Did Last Summer. The franchise began in 1997 with the movie of the same name directed by Jim Gillespie and based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan.

I Know What You Did Last Summer followed a group of friends who, believing they had killed a man, threw the body into the water, only to learn he was still alive. A year later, they were stalked by a hook-wielding killer, who was directly linked to the accident. The two survivors, Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), returned in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, where they confronted the fisherman one more time along with a family secret. The franchise is now getting a new sequel, but it just got trickier thanks to its place in the timeline.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Is Canon In The Reboot Timeline

I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 Will Follow The Movies’ Continuity

I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 was believed to be ignoring I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and thus be a direct sequel to the first movie.

Many legacy sequels in the horror genre have followed a specific pattern in recent years. Movies like David Gordon Green’s Halloween and The Exorcist: Believer opted for being direct sequels to the first movie in their respective franchises and ignored all sequels that came after it. This has proven to be a wise move when the franchise declined due to bad sequels, but not all legacy sequels need to follow this style. Because of this, I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 was believed to be ignoring I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and thus be a direct sequel to the first movie.

As I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer is a standalone sequel, it doesn’t count as part of the Julie/Ray continuity.

The legacy sequel of I Know What You Did Last Summer was announced to be in development in 2023, but it wasn’t until 2024 that more substantial updates were given. I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 will be directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and star Camila Mendes, Jonah Hauer-King, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, and Tyrid Withers, while Hewitt and Prinze Jr. are in talks to reprise their roles.

After lots of speculation on the sequel’s place in the timeline, Robinson took to social media to confirm I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 is indeed a sequel to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, saying that the latter is canon, so the sequel is part of the Julie/Ray continuity.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Left Two Major Challenges For The Sequel

I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 Can’t Ignore These Problems

While it’s not bad that I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 will be a sequel to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and thus continue Julie and Ray’s story (even if as part of the story of the young cast), this decision poses two major challenges for the movie. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer saw Julie, Karla (Brandy), and their friends being tricked by Ben Willis (a.k.a. the fisherman) and taken to the Bahamas during storm season, thus trapping them there.

Ray managed to make it to the hotel and helped Julie take Ben and Will down, killing both.

The twist in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was that Julie and Karla’s friend, Will (Matthew Settle), who was supposedly in love with Julie, was Ben’s son and thus was key in bringing Julie to the Bahamas. Ray managed to make it to the hotel and helped Julie take Ben and Will down, killing both. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer ended with Ray and Julie either engaged or married and living together, but Ben appeared under Julie’s bed and dragged her.

The biggest challenge, however, is who will be the killer this time.

The ending of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is somewhat open to interpretation as Ben was clearly dead, yet he showed up for one final scare. It’s generally assumed that this final scene was a dream, but exactly when the nightmare started is unknown. I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 will have to retcon this ending by explaining if it was a dream and if Julie and Ray truly got back together, as that could have also been part of the dream. The biggest challenge, however, is who will be the killer this time.

Ben and Will were killed in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and they had no more family left, as Ben’s wife died before the events of the first movie, as well as his daughter, Susan. The killer in I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 would have to have some connection to the original accident to bring Julie and Ray into the story, but doing so in a believable way that won’t retcon the previous movies is going to be tricky.

How I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 Can Fix These Problems (& Succeed As A Sequel)

I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 Can Do A Couple Of Tricks

I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 could reveal Ben or Will had a much younger son who is now ready for revenge.

Of course, the best way to fix the final scare in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is by treating it as a dream, pretty much like the movie did with the ending of I Know What You Did Last Summer – the real challenge is who will be the killer this time. I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 could reveal Ben or Will had a much younger son who is now ready for revenge, though that would repeat Scream 2022’s trick of revealing Billy Loomis had a daughter.

It could be that the new characters will find themselves in a situation just like that of Julie and Ray in the first movie, and knowing they already went through that, will go to them for help. I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 will need a truly unexpected twist in its killer reveal to succeed, as the audience knows well about Ben Willis and his motives, but it also has to find a believable way to connect to Julie and Ray.