I Know What You Did Last Summeris getting rebooted as an upcoming TV series for Amazon, and famed director James Wan is attached to direct the pilot withJohn Wick 3writer Shay Hatten writing the script. The news comes with the announcement of producer Neal H. Mortiz renewing his overall development deal with Sony Pictures Television, as Mortiz is the original producer of theI Know What You Did Last Summermovie and is looking to revive the horror classic as a TV series. At this point, no other details have yet been revealed.
Written by Kevin Williamson(Scream) and directed by Jim Gillespie (Billionaire Ransom), the originalI Know What You Did Last Summerpremiered in theaters in 1997. It starred Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe as a group of teenagers who seemingly kill a stranger in a car accident, disposing of his body in the water to cover up the crime. However, when a hook-wielding maniac begins to stalk, taunt, and terrorize the teens, it becomes clear the man they hit didn’t actually die, and now he wants revenge. The movie was very successful at the box office, grossing over $125 million against a $17 million budget.
Of course, the movie did have sequels, as most successful horror releases do.I Still Know What You Did Last Summerwas released the following year, bringing back Hewitt and Prinze while adding Brandy, Mekhi Phifer, andJack Blackto the cast. It picks up after the events of the first movie, with the hooked madman continuing his killing spree. The franchise would later close out as a trilogy with the release of the direct-to-video sequelI’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summerin 2006, which brought back none of the original cast members. Oddly enough, the horror series hasn’t been revisited by Hollywood since, somehow always getting overlooked during the horror movie reboot trend of the new millennium.
Amazonsingning onJames Wanbrings in a lot of credibility for the small screen reboot, as the filmmaker has become one of the most well-respected names in horror. After co-creating theSawfranchise with Leigh Whannell, Wan would later launch an even bigger franchise when he helmed the first installment of theConjuringseries. The director has found great success outside of the horror genre as well, helming big-name releases likeFurious 7and the superhero movieAquaman. As Wan focuses a lot of his time on producing these days as well, he seems to only take on the director gigs he feels particularly passionate about, so he must see something special in theI Know What You Did Last Summerseries. Or maybe he’s just a huge fan of the original.
In any case, it’s not shocking to see an updated version ofI Know What You Did Last Summeron the way, but bringing in Wan to helm the pilot is a rather nice surprise. The filmmaker is clearly skilled when it comes to the horror genre, and his involvement is a great sign moving forward for the upcoming series. This news was first reported byVariety.
