I Know What You Did Last Summer returns this July after almost 20 years, and two of the franchise's biggest stars, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., are set to reprise their roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson.
This April, People Magazine unveiled an exciting preview of the legacy sequel, featuring our first look at Hewitt and Prinze Jr.'s return and a peek at the new faces in the series.
While it has been nearly two decades since the third movie in this teen slasher series, it's been even longer since we saw Ray and Julie, who last appeared in the 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The new movie, helmed by Do Revenge director Jenn Kaytin Robinson, is a direct follow-up.
Hewitt's return to the franchise was one of the last confirmations, as there was some back-and-forth between her and the producers to make the scheduling work for her. But it's really happening!
You can see a few exclusive photos at the source. Among them are photos showing Hewitt and Prinze Jr. as older versions of Julie and Ray and a group photo of the newcomers, which includes The Studio star Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline from Outer Banks, Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid), Sarah Pidgeon (The Wilds), and Tyriq Withers, who will also star in the upcoming horror film Him releasing this fall.
Discussing her return to the franchise, Hewitt admitted that she was anxious before filming started.
"I'll be super honest, I had total anxiety for 48 hours before [filming] because I was like, 'Can I do this? Am I going to pull this off?' It's a lot of pressure."
The actress praised the newbies, saying the younger cast is "phenomenal" and she enjoyed ushering in the next generation.
According to the newly revealed plot details for the upcoming film, it will follow in similar footsteps to the original. Five friends cause a deadly accident and then cover it up, vowing to keep it a secret forever. Fast-forward one year later, and someone is out for revenge.
Seeing as this has happened before, the teens seek advice from Julie and Ray. The last time we saw the couple, they had married and bought a house together. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer ended on a chilling cliffhanger with Ben, the killer fisherman, yanking Julie under the bed. I'm curious if that will be addressed in the film, though I'm assuming it might be played off as a nightmare sequence.
Fans should look forward to Robinson's take on the series as she tells People she wanted to create a "really fun, popcorn summer event" that is "balls-to-the-walls-fun." That said, don't expect this movie to go easy on the gore. It is still a slasher after all, with the horror "ratcheted up to a hundred in this — it's much more brutal."
I Know What You Did Last Summer will hit theaters on July 18.