Freddie Prinze Jr. On ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer,' Horror Favorites And More

Forbes

5 days ago

Freddie Prinze Jr. in "I Know What You Did Last Summer."
When it came to naming the new version of the 1997 slasher classic, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Freddie Prinze Jr. decided to stay out of the way. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was already taken by the 1998 sequel and Prinze chuckled at my suggestion, I Know What You Did 28 Summers Ago.
'[Coming up with a title] is above my pay grade, man,' Prinze said, smiling, in a Zoom conversation on Friday. 'The only thing I'm in control of is between the words 'action' and 'cut.' Outside of that, they have their own departments to do that.'
So, appropriately, the still-ominously-titled I Know What You Did Last Summer is the name of the new version. While the film's studios, Columbia Pictures and Screen Gems, deems it 'an expansion of the franchise,' Prinze said he sees I Know What You Did Last Summer as more of a sequel, considering his legacy character, Ray Bronson, is back for the new film, as is Jennifer Love Hewitt's Julie James.
New in theaters on Friday, I Know What You Did Last Summer revisits the coastal town of Southport, North Carolina, where the tragic events of the 1997 film unfolded. In the original film, the car Ray, Julie, Barry Cox (Ryan Phillippe) and Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) are in accidentally hit a fisherman standing in the middle of a road in a desolate area in the dark of night on July 4th. Given that circumstances of the crash could land them in legal trouble, the friends decide to dump the body in the ocean.
Not all dark secrets remain buried, as the group discovers, and a year later, the fisherman whom they thought was dead returns to exact revenge on Ray, Julie, Barry and Helen and anybody else who gets in his way.
The mysterious fisherman donning a slicker and an angling and wielding a giant hook is largely successful on his murder spree, yet Ray and Julie miraculously manage to elude the killer.
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. in "I Know What You Did Last Summer."
In the new I Don't Know What You Did Last Summer, a new group of five friends – played by Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers and Sarah Pidgeon — travel the same road in the dead of night on July 4th that their counterparts did 28 years before.
Instead of hitting a fisherman, though, the group pulls over to the side of a windy road on a cliff to watch the Southport fireworks display. Because one of them is dancing around in the roadway, however, it causes an accident where the driver plows through a guide rail and plunges to his death.
Knowing that their futures would be ruined because they caused the fatality, the group makes a pact to leave the scene of the crash. Like the group of teens discovered nearly three decades before, the killer behind the Southport Massacre will not rest until vengeance is served.
While the core narrative of I Know What You Did Last Summer is rooted in the original plot and returns to the setting of the 1997 original, the new film is far from being a note-for-note remake.
After all, audiences are being introduced to five new characters, but most importantly, Ray and Julie's story moves forward in a sensible and meaningful way. Since Ray and Julie are the only people who can understand what the new killings are about and what it's like to live the lie of covering up a death, they're the only people the new group can turn to.
As audiences will come to learn, Ray and Julie both tried to move on with their lives, but the trauma they suffered nearly 30 years before pulled them in different directions. Prinze said that initially he wasn't interested in reprising his role, but since he was already friends with director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, he had a change of heart and decided to listen to what she envisioned for Ray and Julie.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 14: (L-R) Jennifer Love Hewitt, Austin Nichols, Tyriq Withers, Jonah ... More Hauer-King, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Chase Sui Wonders, writer/director/executive producer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Gabbriette, writer Sam Lansky, Billy Campbell and Freddie Prinze Jr. attend the Columbia Pictures & Screen Gems World Premiere of 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' at The United Theater on Broadway on July 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Sony Pictures via Getty Images)
'She said, 'I know you don't want to hear a pitch, but let me just tell you where I think these characters are and if you like that, let me pitch you my vision for this movie,'' Prinze recalled. 'So, we sat down and she talked to me a lot about trauma and how the same trauma can hit two people in very different ways, and it either makes that individual or it breaks that individual.'
From there, Prinze was hooked, so to speak.
'I liked what Jennifer had to say, so she pitched me the movie, which was wild and has a ton of secrets and spoilers and things like that, and I honestly knew before even the script was written that I was attached to the movie,' Prinze enthused. 'Her vision was so clear on how to bring in this new generation, but still pay, not just homage, but respect to the original cast to have them be a major part of the new story. We were not just appearing in cameos to help sell the movie, so I loved her idea.'
Freddie Prinze Jr. Says He And Jennifer Love Hewitt Were Invited To Participate In The Creative Process
While Freddie Prinze Jr. said Jennifer Kaytin Robinson had a clear vision for Ray and Julie and where their tattered lives were at in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, it didn't stop the director — who also co-wrote the film — from inviting him and Jennifer Love Hewitt to become part of her collaborative process.
'Not only were we allowed to collaborate, we were encouraged to from pre-production during production and post-production,' Prinze said. 'From script to scene — and not just in dialogue, but scene structure, motivation — Jennifer encouraged us in every way, shape and form, and not just in character.'
In addition, Prinze was excited by the way Robinson helped frame the kills in the new iteration of I Know What You Did Last Summer.
'[When she was discussing the ] way she wanted to shoot it, Jennifer was asking us questions, like, 'What are your three favorite horror movies? What are your three favorite deaths in those movies? The horror movies that have to have relatable characters and two or three great set pieces to give meaning to the kills that you'll remember forever.''
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. at the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" Los Angeles ... More Premiere held at The United Theater on Broadway on July 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
So, What Are Freddie Prinze Jr.'s Favorite Horror Films?
Since Freddie Prinze Jr. brought up that he named his horror film favorites for Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, I wasn't going to leave the Zoom conversation without naming them for readers — and he was happy to share them.
'I love Dario Argento's Suspiria. I think it's the greatest soundtrack in the history of horror films and I also love the original Ju-On, which my wife did the remake of with The Grudge,' Prinze said, referring to the 2004 Sarah Michelle Gellar classic directed by Takashi Shimizu and produced by Evil Dead horror film luminary Sam Raimi.
Prinze also revealed that he has an eclectic taste in horror movies that expands to lower-budgeted slasher classics.
I love Slumber Party Massacre, Part II. Yeah, it's like a B-movie and right there with it is another B movie called Chopping Mall,' Prinze said with a smile. 'So, those are my top three or four slasher movies, for sure.'
I Know What You Did Last Summer opens Friday in theaters nationwide.