I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1998 slasher film directed by Danny Cannon and written by Trey Callaway. It is the sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), and the second installment in the franchise of the same name. It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Muse Watson, who reprise their role from the first film, while Brandy, Mekhi Phifer, Bill Cobbs, Matthew Settle, Jennifer Esposito, Jack Black, Jeffrey Combs, and John Hawkes also star. The film takes place one year after the first film and again follows the character of Julie James (Hewitt), who wins a vacation to The Bahamas with her friend group. During their vacations, they are targeted by a killer.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was released theatrically in the United States on November 13, 1998. It received negative reviews and grossed $40 million domestically on a budget of $24 million. Worldwide, it earned $84 million, making it a certified box office success.
It was followed by a straight-to-video standalone sequel, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, in 2006. A direct legacy sequel is scheduled to be released by Sony Pictures on July 18, 2025.
One year after the brutal murders of her friends Helen Shivers and Barry Cox by the vengeful fisherman Ben Willis, Julie James is attending summer classes in Boston, but suffers from nightmares of the incident. Julie's roommate, Karla Wilson, receives a phone call from a local radio station and wins a vacation for four to The Bahamas. Julie invites her boyfriend, Ray Bronson, who, despite initially declining, decides to go. That evening, Ray and his co-worker, Dave, drive to Boston to surprise Julie, but stop due to a body in the middle of the road. When Ray discovers the body is a mannequin, Ben appears and kills Dave with his hook, then chases Ray in a truck, but Ray escapes and falls down a hill.
The next morning, Julie, Karla, Karla's boyfriend, Tyrell Martin, and their friend, Will Benson, depart for the trip. The group arrives at the hotel in Tower Bay and checks in. Elsewhere, Ray, at the hospital, disappears. That evening at the hotel's bar, Julie is singing karaoke when the words "I still know what you did last summer" roll on-screen. Terrified, she runs back to her room. Will confesses he likes Julie. Darick, a dockhand, is tying up a boat when he is then murdered by Ben. Afterwards, Olga, the housekeeper, finds bloody sheets. Ben then slices her, dragging her into a room. The others get into a hot tub while, Julie, in her room, is unable to find her toothbrush. She searches her room before finding Darick dead in the closet. Horrified, she informs them, but Darick's body is missing; Mr. Brooks, the hotel manager, refuses to believe her story. Mr. Brooks notes they are unable to leave the island due to an incoming storm. By the pool, Titus Telesco is murdered. Ray, who has survived his injuries, heads out to rescue Julie.
The next day, the group finds Olga, Titus, and Mr. Brooks murdered and the two-way radio, their only way of contact, destroyed. Isolated, the group goes to the room of Estes, the boat hand porter, and finds that he has been using voodoo against them. Estes appears, explaining he was trying to protect them after realizing that their answer to the radio station's question was incorrect. He tells them that Ben and his wife, Sarah, had two children: a son and a daughter. Ben murdered Sarah when he found out about an affair. Estes goes missing and Will volunteers to find him, while Ray takes a boat to the island. Julie, Karla, and Tyrell return to the hotel and find Nancy, the bartender, hiding in the kitchen.
Ben appears in the kitchen and kills Tyrell. The girls retreat to the attic, where Karla is attacked by Ben. Julie and Nancy rescue Karla and run to the storm cellar, where they find Ben's victims. Will bursts in and takes the girls back to the hotel, stating that he saw Ben on the beach. At the hotel, Will tells them that Estes attacked him and he is bleeding from the stomach. Nancy and Karla leave to find a first aid kit, but find Estes impaled with a harpoon. Ben appears, kills Nancy and attacks Karla. While Julie tends to Will, he reveals that it is not his blood and asks Julie what her favorite radio station is, revealing that he was the radio host and had killed Estes.
Will drags Julie to a graveyard, where he reveals that he is Ben's son. Ben appears and attacks Julie before Ray arrives and engages in a fight with Will. When Ben tries to stab Ray, he accidentally kills Will instead. While Ben is distraught from killing his son, Julie shoots him dead. Back at the hotel, Karla is found alive and they are rescued by the coast guard.
Sometime later, Ray and Julie get married and buy a home. Ray is brushing his teeth and the bathroom door is locked while he is occupied. Julie sits down on the bed and looks in the mirror, seeing Ben underneath. She screams as Ben pulls her under the bed.
In 1997, director Mike Mendez pitched a sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer that would have brought back Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr. in a college setting. The following February, British filmmaker Danny Cannon was announced as director, unrelated to Mendez's idea. Matthew Settle, Brandy, Hewitt and Prinze Jr. joined the cast in March 1998, with Jennifer Esposito joining a month later.
In a 2018 interview, writer Trey Callaway revealed that he was asked by Mandalay Pictures if he was interested in penning the script for the sequel. Being a fan of the original, Callaway agreed, pitched his take, and was hired. In order to capitalize on the success of the first movie, the studio was eager to get production underway, with filming starting around six months after Callaway sold his pitch. Mandalay had also hired Stephen Gaghan to write a different version of the screenplay, with it reportedly set in New Orleans. They eventually chose Callaway's script over Gaghan's; however, in early promotional trailers, Gaghan was listed as co-screenwriter.
The soundtrack was released on November 17, 1998, by Warner Bros. Records. On January 19, 1999, "How Do I Deal" was released as a single, backed by Jory Eve's "Try to Say Goodbye". A music video for "How Do I Deal" was made available to music television networks.
The film made $16.5 million from 2,443 theaters during its opening weekend, finishing second behind holdover The Waterboy. At the end of its 15-week run, the film grossed $40 million in the United States. Worldwide, the sequel earned a strong $84 million during its entire theatrical run.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 7% based on 58 reviews and an average rating of 3.5 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Boring, predictable and bereft of thrills or chills, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is exactly the kind of rehash that gives horror sequels a bad name." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 21 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Leonard Klady of Variety said: "Purists will find the pic's obviousness disappointing, but there's no question that the film delivers a sufficient shock quotient to satisfy its youthful target audience."
In a 2017 interview, I Know What You Did Last Summer director Jim Gillespie, said: "I thought it wasn't the right story. I didn't like the premise. It kind of killed the franchise a little bit. They had a chance to do something a bit different and for me it didn't work."
On August 15, 2006, a direct-to-video film titled I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer was released. The film is unrelated to the two previous films and features no returning cast members. It was originally proposed to continue where I Still Know What You Did Last Summer left off. Instead, the film features an unrelated plot with a brief mention of the first two films.
In February 2023, a new legacy sequel was announced to be in development with Hewitt and Prinze Jr. in talks to star, and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson directing from a script by Leah McKendrick. I Know What You Did Last Summer is set to be released on July 18, 2025.
A paperback edition of the screenplay was published in 1998.