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Production on the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel from Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is officially underway, with cast mostly confirmed for its July 18, 2025 release. A new interview with original star Jennifer Love Hewitt teases that she’s closer than ever to coming back on board.
Hewitt, who played Julie James in the 1997 slasher original, could be rejoining Freddie Prinze Jr. in the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer, along with series newcomers Billy Campbell, Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, Lola Tung, and Jonah Hauer-King.
In a new interview with Variety, Hewitt speaks more about her potential involvement in the upcoming reboot, going into detail about what makes Julie such a special character for her, and also revealing she was originally on board for a very different role:
Julie James has a special place in my heart, always. It was one of the big first things I ever manifested in my life. I told my mom that I didn’t want to be a [real] lead in a movie until I was 18 years old, because I wanted to be able to work adult hours and crush it. I didn’t originally read for Julie James. I read for Sarah Michelle Geller’s part, and the director in the audition was like, “Something’s wrong. What’s going on? You’re not feeling it.” I was like, “I’m not this person. I’m Julie.” He was like, “You have 10 minutes. Go outside, read the sides, come back in.” So she’s a very special person to me because that movie changed my career.
She changed my belief in myself. Being able to know that I could see things before they happened and make them happen, and put that out to the universe, and be rewarded in that way — that was a beautiful lesson for me in my life. It has helped me tremendously in my almost 36 years now of doing this.
While we’ve already heard that Hewitt is “in talks” to return, the following quote from Variety seems to confirm that things are moving along nicely behind the scenes for a Julie return:
I will say it is truly such an honor, at 45, to even be invited back. To be thought of in that way, to not just move on to the newer, better, younger versions, but [to be offered] to come back and play that part is really cool. We’re trying really hard to make it work. We’re so close, guys! I promise I’ll make a fun announcement, and it’ll be amazing.
But I think that a big part of the reason we’ve taken a minute is I don’t want to just be like, “Oh, there’s the ghost of ’90s past for five seconds in the movie.” I want to have her come back, be there for a reason, play a real part, and show the audience who she’s become 27 years later. I think the scariest thing about the movie will probably be people seeing me as 45, since they saw me last time at 21. They might not even need to do anything else in the film — just do a real closeup with no filter, and there you go! But I’m really excited and really honored, and just fingers crossed that everything falls into place.
Hewitt also confirmed something VERY important that fans will surely rally behind: no matter what happens in the reboot, Julie James cannot die:
That was my deal a long time ago. Julie doesn’t die! Never!
We’ll bring you further updates on I Know What You Did Last Summer as we get them.
