I Know What You Did Last Summer

On July 4, 2024, Ava Brucks comes home to Southport, North Carolina, for the engagement party of her best friend Danica Richards and Danica's rich fiance Teddy Spencer. Ava, Danica, Teddy and Ava's ex Milo Griffin drive out to Reaper's Curve to watch the fireworks. They bring along Stevie Ward, an old friend they have drifted from who just got out of rehab. While they are parked on the cliffside road, Teddy causes a truck driven by Sam Cooper to swerve off the cliff. Teddy swears everyone to secrecy, and his father Grant, the mayor, covers up the crash. Danica and Teddy break up.

One year later Ava comes back for Danica's bridal shower. Danica is now engaged to Wyatt. Ava meets Tyler Trevino, a true crime podcaster in town to dig into the 1997 Fisherman murders. At the shower Danica gets a note that reads "I know what you did last summer." That night a figure in a slicker shoots Wyatt with a speargun by the pool and leaves the message "You can't erase the past" in blood.

Tyler takes Ava to Bayside House, the old Shivers Department Store, where Helen Shivers and her sister Elsa were killed in 1997. The Fisherman attacks them there. Ava wounds the killer, but Tyler is hanged with Fourth of July decorations. The friends go to Julie James, who survived the 1997 killings and now teaches college. Julie thinks the killer has a personal tie to Sam. A cemetery groundskeeper is slashed in the security office.

At a town hall meeting, Ray Bronson, Julie's ex-husband and Stevie's boss at his bar, accuses Grant of burying the 1997 killings to make the town look better to tourists. Ava, Milo and Stevie find out Sam's truck belonged to Pastor Judah Gillespie. The Fisherman goes after Danica, and Teddy saves her. Milo is strangled with a rope. Ava and Danica report Judah to the police and end up locked in an interrogation room for harassing him. The Fisherman then kills Teddy and Grant at the Spencer house. In a dream, Danica sees Helen Shivers.

Ray tells Ava and Danica to get out of Southport on Teddy's yacht. On the way they find Milo's body in his abandoned car. Police find Judah dead in his church with his eyes gouged out, along with a photo of Sam and Stevie. On the yacht, Stevie reveals she is the Fisherman. She and Sam met in rehab and fell in love, and she wants revenge for his death. Stevie stabs Danica, who goes overboard. Ray shoots Stevie and she falls into the ocean.

Back at Ray's bar, Ava sees Ray has a wound in the same spot where she cut the Fisherman at Bayside House. Ray is Stevie's partner. He promised to help her, and he is furious that Southport erased the 1997 murders that ruined his life. Julie figures it out and gets to the bar. Ray attacks them. While Julie holds his attention, Ava grabs his speargun and shoots him in the back, and he bleeds out.

Danica washes ashore alive and reunites with Ava at the hospital. The film ends with word that Stevie is still alive. In the mid credits scene, Julie gets a note saying it isn't over, with a photo of her and Karla Wilson that has Karla's face crossed out. She goes to see Karla, her old college roommate, who now lives with her partner Andrew, to ask for help.

Story notes

• Survivors: Ava Brucks · Danica Richards · Julie James · Stevie Ward, who is shot off the boat and turns out to be alive

Release facts

• Rated: R for bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use
• Worldwide: $64,808,120 (Box Office Mojo); The Numbers lists $63,354,791

The film premiered at the United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles on July 14, 2025, and Sony opened it wide on July 18, 2025, against Smurfs and Eddington. The Numbers lists 3,206 theaters.

Tracking had it at $13 to $17 million for opening weekend. It made $5.9 million on opening day, including $2.2 million from Thursday previews, and opened third with $12,755,359. It finished with $32,165,634 in the US and Canada. Box Office Mojo has the worldwide total at $64,808,120, and The Numbers has $63,354,791. The budget was $18 million.

Reviews were mostly negative. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 36 percent from 212 reviews with an average of 4.8 out of 10. The site's consensus says it gives plenty of nostalgia without a hook of its own. Metacritic scored it 42 from 33 critics. CinemaScore audiences gave it a C+.

Alison Foreman at IndieWire gave it a B+ and called it a lean, mean serial killer flick. Jordan Hoffman at Entertainment Weekly gave it a B- and praised Madelyn Cline. Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com gave it one star out of four and knocked its shallowness and editing. Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter said it could not bring new energy to a worn out series, but praised Hewitt and Prinze Jr.

Ray Bronson turning out to be a killer is the twist fans argue about most.

Critics landed on it as competent nostalgia without a reason to exist. Thirty six percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 212 reviews, with a consensus saying it "serves up plenty of nostalgia without finding a compelling hook of its own," and a 42 on Metacritic. The split was real rather than uniform. Alison Foreman at IndieWire gave it a B+ and called it "a lean, mean serial killer flick." Jordan Hoffman at Entertainment Weekly graded it B- and singled out "a sensational performance from Madelyn Cline." Against that, Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com gave it one star out of four, and Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter credited the returning stars’ gravitas while diagnosing creative exhaustion. Commercially it underperformed. Tracking in late June projected a $19 to $28 million opening; by July 11 that had been cut to $15 to $24 million. It opened to $12.8 million and finished around $32 million at home and $63 million worldwide against an $18 million budget, which is profitable but nowhere near a relaunch. Streaming was the better story: it hit Netflix on October 16, 2025 and was in the United States top ten at number six within a day.

Scores

Cast

Crew

Production

Sony tried to restart the series long before this film. In September 2014 the studio hired Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard to write a reboot that would have had nothing to do with the earlier films or the novel. It was budgeted at $15 to $20 million and never got made.

After Amazon canceled the 2021 TV series, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Leah McKendrick pitched Sony a new film late in 2022. It went into early development in February 2023, with Neal H. Moritz producing and plans to bring back Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. McKendrick wrote the first script, and Robinson and Sam Lansky wrote the screenplay. In July 2024 it was confirmed the film would pick up from the 1998 sequel.

Prinze Jr. said in March 2023 that he had not gotten an offer and that the announcement was made to get fans excited. He met with Robinson and liked her idea, and he was confirmed in September 2024. Hewitt's deal took longer because of her schedule on 9-1-1. She told Parade that if she was coming back 27 years later she did not want to be in it for five seconds. She announced her return on Instagram in December 2024. Robinson said there was no movie without the two of them.

Camila Mendes, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers and Jonah Hauer-King were in talks in July 2024. Mendes left in September 2024 to make Masters of the Universe, and Chase Sui Wonders took her place. Brandy Norwood said in August 2024 she was in talks to play Karla again. Billy Campbell joined in October 2024. Lola Tung, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Austin Nichols and Gabbriette joined in November 2024, but Tung and Chavez did not make the final cut.

In February 2023 Sarah Michelle Gellar told Entertainment Weekly she had been asked to come back as Helen Shivers. She said no at first because Helen died in the first film and she did not want to undo that. She ended up in the film anyway, in a dream Danica has.

Filming started in October 2024 in New South Wales, Australia, with Elisha Christian shooting. Locations included Newport Beach, White Bay and Paddington in Sydney. The shoot moved to Los Angeles in February and March 2025 and wrapped on March 13.

The ending was changed after test screenings. As shot, Danica died after going into the water. Test audiences did not want her to die, so in early June 2025 the crew shot new beach and hospital scenes where she survives. Cline said in late June that she had learned she was coming back only about two and a half weeks earlier. The reshoot also added a short scene of Danica looking at a framed photo of Helen Shivers at a grave.

Robinson told Entertainment Weekly that the final scares of the first two films live outside the canon. That is how Julie and Ray are both alive. Prinze Jr. told Nerdist that Ray has been through a lot and has probably bottled up his feelings.

It started as a pitch, not a studio order: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Leah McKendrick took the idea to Sony in the fall of 2022, at exactly the moment the Scream relaunch had proved that pairing returning originals with a new young cast worked. Robinson’s Netflix film Do Revenge had convinced executives she could handle the late nineties register.

It started as a pitch, not a studio order: Deadline reported it in February 2023 with Robinson directing, McKendrick writing, Neal H. Moritz producing and both Hewitt and Prinze Jr. in talks. Sam Lansky later joined Robinson on the screenplay. Sony dated it for summer 2025 in May 2024.

Getting the two of them back took nearly two years: Robinson has said flatly that without Hewitt and Prinze Jr. "there was no movie."

Getting the two of them back took nearly two years: Hewitt’s condition was scale. She did not want a token appearance, and told the production that if she was coming back twenty seven years later she did not want to be in it for five seconds, which created real scheduling problems against 9-1-1. What she has emphasized since is how well the filmmakers knew the original: "What was very apparent from the word Go, is how much both of them loved the original movie," and that "they allowed space for me to know her better than anyone, which was so kind because they didn’t have to do that."

Getting the two of them back took nearly two years: Prinze Jr. said in March 2023 that he had not had a formal offer. He met Robinson, committed, and was confirmed in September 2024; Hewitt closed her deal in December 2024.

The ending: He has been unusually open about it. He asked audiences to "know that I gave everything to this performance," acknowledged that fans "love Ray" and that "some people will get mad," and described the difficulty of "taking that emotional damage home with me at the end of the day" while still calling it "the most fun that I’ve had." Hewitt’s verdict: "Freddie nailed it."

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s cameo was kept off the page: The scene never appeared in the circulated script. It existed only as separate sheets, which Robinson described as "lock and key." Joshua Orpin, who shares the sequence, did not know what he was shooting until he was in the makeup chair, at which point Madelyn Cline told him "Oh my God, no one’s told you."

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s cameo was kept off the page: Gellar had resisted for years on continuity grounds, telling Robinson "I’m dead. I’m dead. This isn’t supernatural," until Robinson devised the nightmare framing. She wore a recreation of the Croaker Queen dress and crown and called standing in it "crazy," adding of the fan reaction, "I’ve always said, I’m dead. I did not lie."

Casting churn, and a cold open that was cut: Camila Mendes was attached and left over a scheduling clash with Masters of the Universe, reported by Deadline on September 4, 2024; Chase Sui Wonders replaced her that month. Wikipedia dates the exit to July 2024, which conflicts with the trade reporting.

Casting churn, and a cold open that was cut: On November 7, 2024 the production announced Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Lola Tung, Austin Nichols and Gabbriette. Chavez and Tung shot a sequence meant to be the film’s cold open and it was cut. Robinson explained: "I love this in a vacuum. This is a fantastic scene. But it doesn’t fit in the movie," and stressed it was not about the performances.

Filming locations: Principal photography ran from October 2024 into March 2025, based in Sydney, New South Wales, with Los Angeles work in February and March, wrapping March 13, 2025. No principal photography took place in North Carolina.

The ending was changed two weeks before release: As shot, Danica died after Stevie stabbed her and she went into the water. Test audiences rejected it and new material was filmed in June 2025 in which she washes ashore, survives and reunites with Ava. Cline told The Hollywood Reporter in late June that she "only got the news that I was coming back about two-and-a-half weeks ago" and that "we shot all those very, very end scenes about two weeks ago." Critics widely noticed that the survival plays as bolted on.

Filming locations

• Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Main shoot starting October 2024, standing in for Southport, North Carolina
• Newport Beach, Sydney: Location filming
• White Bay, Sydney: Location filming
• Paddington, Sydney: Location filming
• Los Angeles, California: Filming in February and March 2025
• Disney Studios Australia, Moore Park, Sydney — Stage work.
• Breakfast Point, Sydney — The Southport Community Center.
• Newport Beach, Sydney — Beach sequences.
• Watsons Bay, Sydney — Cliffside and coastal scenes.
• White Bay, Sydney — Dockside and industrial sequences, including a confrontation with the killer.
• Paddington, Sydney — Street and chase work.
• Los Angeles, California, including UCLA — February and March 2025.

Effects and makeup

Special effects were supervised by Dan Oliver. Colin Strause and Jonathan Dearing are credited as visual effects supervisors, with Greg Strause as visual effects producer. Samantha Ward headed the makeup department, and Carlton Coleman and Colin Ware are credited as special effects makeup artists.

The kills use the Fisherman's hook and a speargun. MovieWeb called Teddy's death the most brutal kill in the film, and Collider said the way he crawls for safety copies Casey Becker's death in Scream.

Props and costumes

Mari-An Ceo and Alayna Bell-Price are credited for costumes. The Fisherman keeps the rain slicker and hook from the earlier films, and this time he also uses a speargun.

Ray gets killed with his own speargun.

Tyler dies in Bayside House, set in the old Shivers Department Store building where Helen was chased in 1997.

The killers

Deaths

Sam Cooper

Played by

Ben Toyer

How

His truck goes off the cliff after Teddy causes him to swerve

Where

Reaper's Curve

By

Accident caused by the friends; covered up by Grant Spencer

Wyatt

Played by

Joshua Orpin

How

Shot with a speargun, then attacked by the Fisherman; "You can't erase the past" written in blood

Where

By the pool at Danica's house

By

The Fisherman

Tyler Trevino

Played by

Gabbriette Bechtel

How

Hanged with Fourth of July decorations after she pulls off the Fisherman's mask

Where

Bayside House, the old Shivers Department Store

By

The Fisherman

Groundskeeper

Played by

Brian Duffy

How

Throat slashed with the hook; blood sprays over the monitors

Where

Security office at the cemetery

By

The Fisherman

Milo Griffin

Played by

Jonah Hauer-King

How

Strangled with a rope until his neck breaks; body left in the back seat of his car

Where

Outside the Spencer house

By

The Fisherman

Teddy Spencer

Played by

Tyriq Withers

How

Hit over and over with the hook after a long fight and dragged by his feet

Where

The Spencer house

By

Ray Bronson as the Fisherman (per MovieWeb)

Grant Spencer

Played by

Billy Campbell

How

Slashed with the hook; body later found hanging by the feet

Where

The Spencer house, then put on display at the docks

By

The Fisherman

Pastor Judah Gillespie

Played by

Austin Nichols

How

Eyes gouged out, off screen; found propped up in the church

Where

His church

By

The Fisherman

Chanda Dancy wrote the score. Milan Records put out the score album digitally on July 18, 2025, the day the film opened. It has 20 cues and runs 58:35: Reaper's Curve, The Pact, The Note, Harpooned, Dani & Ava, Podcast Girl, Bayside House, It's Happening Again, Make Some Noise, Graveyard, Float Warehouse, Motion Detected, Call Me Back, Broken Doors, We Did a Bad Thing, The Boardwalk, We Need to Leave, The Yacht, Final Showdown and An Old Friend.

Rob Lowry was music supervisor. The pop songs did not get their own album.

"Tiny Screens" by Chloe Slater plays over the opening titles as Ava comes home.

"Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae plays as Ava tries on a dress.

"Revelation" by The Knocks and Dragonette plays going into the engagement party.

"People" by The 1975 plays as Danica drives.

"Leave Me Alone" by Reneé Rapp plays one year later as Ava lands at the airport.

"Carousel Horses" by Christian Lee Hutson plays as Milo drives.

"Swoon" by Fickle Friends plays going into the bridal shower.

The "Wedding March" plays as Danica comes down the stairs, right before Wyatt's body is found.

"Lewps" by Charlie Houston plays during Tyler's podcast about Southport.

"Hush" by The Marías plays in a scene with Ava and Milo.

"Come Back Home" by Sammy Vaughn & The Star Marks plays on Grant's record player as Teddy is attacked.

"Devil Town" by Angie McMahon plays as Ava and Julie sit on the beach.

"Days Move Slow" by Bully plays over the final scenes into the credits.

"Summer Forever" by Addison Rae closes out the end credits.

"Teen Rebel" by The Haunted Youth is also used.

Home Media

• Digital purchase and rental: August 26, 2025, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
• DVD: October 7, 2025.
• Blu-ray: October 7, 2025. One BD-50 with a digital copy, and a slipcover on the case. 1080p MPEG-4 AVC at 2.39:1. English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1 and English audio description. Subtitles in English, English SDH, French and Spanish. Why So Blu lists it as Region A. Extras: Return to Southport (9:11), Chills, Kills and Thrills (10:33), Outtakes and Bloopers (2:44), and Deleted Scenes (7:59 total): Grant Covers It Up, Arriving at Southport, Ray's Bar and an Alternate Post Credit scene.
• 4K Ultra HD SteelBook: October 7, 2025. In the US this was the only way to get the film on 4K. Two discs, a BD-100 4K disc and a BD-50 Blu-ray, plus a Movies Anywhere digital code. Native 2160p HEVC with Dolby Vision and HDR10 at 2.39:1. Nine audio options, led by English Dolby Atmos and English DTS-HD MA 5.1. Twenty subtitle languages. The 4K disc is region free and the Blu-ray is locked to Regions A and C. Same extras as the Blu-ray.
• Netflix: October 16, 2025, under Sony's first window streaming deal.

Official studio availability

Where to watch

Trailers and videos

I Know What You Did Last Summer - Teaser Trailer (2025 Movie) | Jennifer Love Hewitt

Wilson Cleveland

The first teaser.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER - Official Trailer (HD)

Sony Pictures Entertainment

The studio’s official trailer.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER - New Trailer (HD)

Sony Pictures Entertainment

The second official trailer.

▶

I Know What You Did Last Summer - Official Trailer - Only In Cinemas Now

Sony Pictures Releasing UK

The United Kingdom release trailer.

▶

I Know What You Did Last Summer Trailer #1 (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes Trailers

The first trailer, hosted by Rotten Tomatoes.

▶

I Know What You Did Last Summer Trailer #2 (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes Trailers

The second trailer.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER Trailer (2025)

ONE Media

The international cut.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER - Final Trailer (2025)

Wilson Cleveland

The last trailer before release.

▶

"I Know What You Did Last Summer" 2025 TV Spot - 1997

The Scream VAULT

The nostalgia spot built around the original.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER premiere Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr, Madelyn Cline 2025

TheMovieReport.com

Arrivals at the Los Angeles premiere.

▶

'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Cast Interview with Madelyn Cline, Tyriq Withers and More

Blavity

The new cast together at the press junket.

▶

The Cast of 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Plays 'Most Likely To'

Variety

The cast playing a game and giving away more than they mean to.

▶

Chase Sui Wonders Interview: From Nearly Quitting to Starring in I Know What You Did Last Summer

Collider Ladies Night

A long career interview.

▶

Jennifer Love Hewitt Is 'TERRIFIED' for I Know What You Did Last Summer Return (Exclusive)

Entertainment Tonight

Hewitt on coming back as Julie James.

▶

Jennifer Love Hewitt on 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Sequel, and JHud Reunion

Jennifer Hudson Show

A talk show appearance promoting the film.

▶

Jennifer Love Hewitt talks 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'

Good Morning America

The morning show interview.

▶

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar Have "Not Talked" Since 1997

E! News

The press moment that got picked up everywhere.

▶

Sarah Michelle Gellar TEASES 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Sequel (Exclusive)

extratv

Gellar being deliberately unhelpful about whether she is in it.

▶

Madelyn Cline on Bringing 'IKWYDLS' & 'Outer Banks' Fandoms Together (Exclusive)

extratv

Cline at the junket.

▶

"I COULD FIX HIM!" Madelyn Cline Talks I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER’s Terrifying Fisherman Killer

Jake’s Takes

Cline on the Fisherman.

▶

I Know What You Did Last Summer Trailer Breakdown!!

Dead Meat

A shot by shot read of the trailer.

▶

I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025 Making of & Behind the Scenes

DVDFilmBonus

SPOILERS

The behind the scenes material collected together.

▶

The Fisherman Identity Reveal Scene | I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (2025) Movie CLIP HD

JoBlo Movie Clips

SPOILERS

The unmasking.

▶

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Post Credits Scene

Gage Dylan

SPOILERS

The scene after the credits.

▶

Jennifer Love Hewitt's Teases CAN'T-MISS 'IKWYDLS' Credits Scene (Exclusive)

extratv

SPOILERS

Hewitt on what happens after the credits.

▶

Sarah Michelle Gellar Accidentally Revealed the New "I Know What You Did Last Summer"

LiveKellyandMark

SPOILERS

Gellar letting it slip on live television.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (2025) Ending Explained

FoundFlix

SPOILERS

The whole ending taken apart.

▶

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER Ending, Killer, and More - SPOILER REVIEW

Flickering Myth

SPOILERS

A spoiler review covering the reveal.

▶

Ending Explained | I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

Chris Stanley

SPOILERS

Another read of the ending and the twist.

Gallery

Posters & Key Art

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Home Media