I Know What You Did Last Summer Director Explains How Ray And Julie Are Still Alive In The New Film, But I’m Even More Confused Now

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This coming summer, the classic horror film “I Know What You Did Last Summer” will jump on the bandwagon of legacyquels/requels, with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprising their roles as franchise veterans. However, this might leave some viewers puzzled, given that in the 1998 sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,” Hewitt’s character Julie James appears to meet her end, while Prinze’s Ray Bronson is set up for the next murder. Yet, they are back! As explained by co-writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the new film will cherry-pick elements from the original storyline to determine what constitutes as canon.

Entertainment Weekly has shared a sneak peek at the upcoming “I Know What You Did Last Summer” movie before its release in July, and the article includes Robinson explaining why Julie and Ray are alive again despite apparently dying over two decades ago. This revelation is based on Robinson’s perspective of what constitutes continuity within the franchise, as she clarifies some aspects as not being crucial to the storyline.

In my interpretation of the franchise, I consider the last scenes from the first two films to exist independently from the main storyline. This is because in the first movie, she gets attacked through a glass door in the shower, while in the second, she’s pulled under a bed. Both instances suggest that they survive these events. To clarify, we have maintained this tradition in our film by continuing the narrative in a way consistent with their survival.

In the first film, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” there’s a chilling scene where Julie gets attacked while she’s about to take a shower, an incident that doesn’t seem to be referenced in “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.” This discrepancy raises some intriguing questions for me as a fan.

To begin with: What parts of the canon tree are being removed in this case? If, for instance, the filmmaker indicates that the final canon scene in the 1998 film depicts Julie hugging Brandy Norwood’s character Karla Wilson, does this imply that the sequel will overlook Julie and Ray’s marriage and their subsequent purchase of a suburban home? Or is it possible that these events are still part of the narrative, but the murder scene is being omitted instead?

To put it another way, isn’t it possible that since this tradition guarantees a predictable ending for new movies, the suspense and tension built throughout might seem less impactful? By the conclusion, wouldn’t viewers find the final scene more like an escapist fantasy rather than a realistic resolution?

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2025-05-01 01:43