I Know What You Did Last Summer Sequel Director Confirms Franchise’s Canon Status, Bucking Horror Reboot Trend

Summary Director confirms new I Know What You Did Last Summer movie is canon, not ignoring previous sequels.

This goes against the previous misunderstanding that the fourth I Know What You Did Last Summer film would be a direct sequel to the first film.

2025 sequel connected to franchise, not resetting the timeline like other horror reboots.

The director of the next I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel confirms that the upcoming movie is canon. I Know What You Did Last Summer was originally a 1997 slasher horror film about a group of young adults who, after covering up an accidental murder, are hunted down by a killer. The horror movie was followed up by I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1998 and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer in 2006. A one-season television adaptation of the movie ws also released in 2021.

Related Why Amazon Canceled I Know What You Did Last Summer After One Season The I Know What You Did Last Summer TV series adaptation has been canceled by Amazon Prime Video after only one season, and here's why.

Taking to social media, the next I Know What You Did Last Summer movie's director, Jenn Kaytin Robinson, confirms how I Know What You Did Last Summer is connected to the franchise. Robinson was responding to the claim that the 2025 version of I Know What You Did Last Summer is "ignoring previous sequels." Robinson denied this assertion, saying "it is definitely not."

She then went on to say that I Know What You Did Last Summer is canon. She added a "hope this helps" after clarifying this information about the sequel.

The I Know What You Did Last Summer Sequel Confusion Explained

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Breaks A Horror Trend

Robinson is responding to the previous misunderstanding that the 2025 version of I Know What You Did Last Summer would be "ignoring the subsequent sequels" that came after the original I Know What We Did Last Summer. The 2025 sequel, which was announced in early 2023, was thought instead to be a direct follow-up to the first movie. If it had been so, the I Know What We Did Last Summer sequel would have reset the timeline for the franchise, and therefore exist outside the already-created canonical chronology.

Part of this confusion likely stemmed from the fact that other horror franchises have been engaging in reboots, indirect sequels, or "requels" a lot lately. This includes the 2018 version of Halloween, which followed up the original John Carpenter film, as well as last year's The Exorcist: Believer. With this strategy, the films ignore the previous timeline and create their own. Because of this trend, some previously worried that I Know What You Did Last Summer would retcon the other movies too much, undermining the current franchise.

Robinson's latest update vastly changes what I Know What You Did Last Summer will look like. Concerns about retconning the other parts of the franchise are moot now, as the sequel is confirmed to be canon in the series. For horror fans tired of legacy sequels and requels that ignore franchise content, I Know What You Did Last Summer will be a breath of fresh air as it disrupts unfavorable horror trends.

Source: Jenn Kaytin Robinson / X