If you want further proof that Hollywood is running out of movies to remake, look no further than this: I Know What You Did Last Summer is the latest film to get the reboot treatment, this time directed by Oculus filmmaker Mike Flanagan.
Flanagan will write and direct the I Know What You Did Last Summer remake, starting with an all-new adaptation of the original novel by Lois Duncan, who also wrote the novel that inspired the movie Hotel for Dogs.
Related: Mike Flanagan on ‘Oculus’ (Exclusive Video)
The film tells the story of four teenagers who hit a man with their car (in the summer), but hide the body to avoid repercussions that could jeopardize their futures. Months go by before they are stalked by a mysterious slasher with a hook, but is he the ghost of the man they killed, or did they forget to finish the job?
I Know What You Did Last Summer was a breakout film for its young cast, which included Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe. It was also the second film from screenwriter Kevin Williamson, whose debut feature Scream revitalized the horror genre in the late 1990s, leading to a nouveau wave of slashers which also included Urban Legends, Valentine and successful “soft” reboots of the iconic franchises Halloween, Child’s Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, although after the initial success of the irony-steeped retreads, most of those franchises receded back into the shadows before the remake boom of the 2000s.
The central theme of I Know What You Did Last Summer remains relevant – since a black mark on your permanent record will always feel like a valid threat to teenagers applying for colleges – and since the movie is bound to be cheap as hell, it’s easy to imagine that the remake feels like a safe bet to Sony Pictures.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
