Almost 20 years after the last I Know What You Did Last Summer movie, the franchise returns with its fourth installment in 2025, and since its former rival will also be releasing a film in 2025, the debate about which ’90s slasher franchise is better can finally be settled. I Know What You Did Last Summer, directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Kevin Williamson, premiered in October 1997. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, the movie was a box-office success and quite influential in revitalizing the slasher genre. Consequently, (less successful) sequels followed, and a franchise was born.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer were overall flops. However, Columbia Pictures is determined to overcome the franchise’s shortcomings and release an I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and written by Kaytin Robinson and Sam Lansky, on July 18, 2025. Unfortunately, not much is known about the upcoming film, but one thing is for certain — the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel will have to go head-to-head (yet again) with another popular slasher franchise.
The Scream franchise, which debuted in December 1996, almost one year earlier than I Know What You Did Last Summer, is also scheduled to release its seventh movie in 2025. As a result, the battle between the two slasher franchises is returning, and only time will tell which one comes out on top (although, Scream 7‘s controversy may hinder its box office numbers). The competition between Scream 7 and the untitled fourth I Know What You Did Last Summer film will be further elevated by the return of their respective ’90s scream queens, aka their final girls.
Neve Campbell, known for portraying Sidney Prescott in the Scream movie series, has already signed on to reprise her role in the upcoming seventh movie. Meanwhile, Jennifer Love Hewitt, who played Julie James in I Know What You Did Last Summer, has expressed interest in returning in the fourth film and is reportedly in negotiations (alongside Freddie Prinze Jr.) to do so. So, 2025 will feature the return of the rivalry between the two slasher franchises, bringing audiences back to the ’90s.
Over the years, many have taken sides in the Scream vs. I Know What You Did Last Summer debate, and since both slasher franchises are releasing movies in 2025, their stories will be fresh in viewers’ minds and the argument can finally end. Audiences (and critics) will be able to compare the two films and determine which is better. Ultimately, the deciding factors will be Scream 7 and the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel’s box office totals and Rotten Tomatoes scores.