The ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Trailer Just Dropped and It’s So Much More Brutal Than We Expected

More than two decades after the original hook-wielding killer stalked the sleepy fishing town of Southport, the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise has been revived for a new generation. If early footage is anything to judge by, this is a sequel with sharpened claws and blood in its teeth.

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) leads the charge with a vicious new installment, aiming for a July 18, 2025 theatrical release. After a secret screening at CinemaCon earlier this month, the official trailer has finally been released online, unleashing a wave of excitement and dread in equal measure.

In a genre increasingly obsessed with prestige horror, Robinson’s take appears to gleefully dive back into the brutal, crowd-pleasing slasher mayhem that first made the original a cultural phenomenon.

Resurrecting a 90s Staple: Revisiting I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Released in 1997, I Know What You Did Last Summer rode the wave of post-Scream slasher fever, delivering a slick, teen-centric horror film based loosely on Lois Duncan’s 1973 novel. Directed by Jim Gillespie and scripted by Scream architect Kevin Williamson, the film followed four friends haunted by a deadly secret and a relentless, rain-soaked killer known simply as the Fisherman.

Its success ($125 million worldwide on a $17 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo) cemented it as a cornerstone of 90s horror, spawning the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1998, and a much-maligned direct-to-video third film in 2006 (I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer).

Now, nearly thirty years later, Robinson and her team aim to strip the franchise of its late-stage camp and return to its brutal, primal roots.

Plot Details: New Blood, Old Secrets

According to the film’s official synopsis, published by Sony Pictures, the new story centers on five friends whose reckless actions cause a fatal car accident. Choosing self-preservation over confession, they forge a pact of silence. A decision that, predictably, returns to destroy them.

“When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences. A year later, their past comes back to haunt them and they’re forced to confront a horrifying truth: someone knows what they did last summer… and is hell-bent on revenge.”

This time, however, the new generation is not fighting alone. As the bodies pile up, they seek help from two figures who have faced the Fisherman before. Julie James and Ray Bronson, the surviving protagonists of the first two films, return.

Casting: A New Ensemble Faces the Hook

The casting choices blend fresh-faced genre favorites with returning icons, a deliberate move to honor the legacy while carving a new path forward.

The New Victims Include:

• Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks)
• Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies Bodies Bodies)
• Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid)
• Tyriq Withers (Atlanta)
• Sarah Pidgeon (Tiny Beautiful Things)
• Gabbriette Bechtel (musician and model, making her feature film debut)
• Austin Nichols (The Day After Tomorrow)
• Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty)
• Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story)

Returning Veterans:

• Jennifer Love Hewitt (Julie James)
• Freddie Prinze Jr. (Ray Bronson)

While Hewitt and Prinze Jr. reprise their iconic roles, the narrative focus squarely rests on the new cast. Hewitt’s Julie, once the embodiment of guilt and survival, now appears more like a grim oracle. A woman who knows that secrets never stay buried.

Behind the Camera: Crafting a More Brutal Fisherman

In a conversation with Collider, screenwriter Leah McKendrick described her approach to the sequel as a meditation on fame, guilt, and the impossibility of secrecy in the social media age.

“Some big ideas about hero and villain, right and wrong, how your skeletons come back to haunt you,” McKendrick explained.
“Who is Julie James in a world where there are no secrets anymore?”

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson reinforced that this installment would lean heavily into more savage territory. Speaking to People Magazine, Robinson emphasized:

“It is not a serious movie. It is a really fun, popcorn summer event, but the horror is ratcheted up to a hundred in this. It is much more brutal.”

Asked specifically about the Fisherman character by Collider, Robinson remained tight-lipped but confirmed:

“This time, the Fisherman is a lot more brutal.”

This tonal shift is immediately evident in the trailer, which opens with an unflinching, nightmarish scene. Madelyn Cline’s character is murdered in her bathtub, a nod to classic slasher tropes executed with shocking savagery.

Trailer Breakdown: Hook, Line, and Sinker

The newly released trailer wastes no time establishing its stakes. In a striking inversion of 90s slasher build-up, the opening moments deliver a brutal, bloody kill. The tone is relentless, with a steady escalation of violence that signals this is not the glossy CW horror of yesteryear.

Among the trailer’s highlights:

• Madelyn Cline’s bath murder sets a grim precedent for the brutality to follow.
• Jennifer Love Hewitt’s chilling inquiry:

“I only have one question. What did you do last summer?”

• Quick flashes of elaborate, gory kills reminiscent of the elaborate death sequences that once defined the slasher genre.
• A growing sense of inevitability, as the past devours the present.

The Fisherman himself remains mainly in the shadows. A wise marketing move that preserves the mystique, but glimpses suggest an updated design that remains faithful to the iconic rain slicker and hook.

The Evolution of Horror: Why Now?

The decision to resurrect I Know What You Did Last Summer now is no accident. With horror franchises like Scream finding new life through nostalgic yet self-aware sequels, and with a generation obsessed with the consequences of internet visibility, the time is ripe.

Leah McKendrick’s pitch to Sony reportedly emphasized this evolution, focusing heavily on the central “accident” and the identity of the killer. These elements ensure the franchise’s DNA remains intact even as its context shifts dramatically.

In the words of Robinson, this sequel is less about redefining the slasher and more about honoring what made it exhilarating in the first place.

Ready or Not, the Fisherman Returns

Whether you are a hardcore fan of the original or a newcomer seduced by the glittering promise of violent catharsis, the 2025 I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel looks set to deliver a savage, blood-drenched summer spectacle.

With Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. returning to lend gravitas, a talented ensemble of new faces, and a director promising unflinching horror and fun in equal measure, the Fisherman’s hook is poised to strike deeper than ever.

July 18 cannot come fast enough.