Latest news with #Prinze
Cosmopolitan
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
How to Watch the ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer' Movies in Order
In 1997, I Know What You Did Last Summer was released and became a teen horror classic. The movie stars four actors who were huge teen idols of the time: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe. It was a box office success, gained a passionate following, and kicked off a franchise that continues on today with a new movie debuting on July 18. The new I Know What You Did Last Summer follows a similar premise to the original: a group of friends believe that they have accidentally killed someone and end up being sent spooky messages while a disguised killer hunts them down. Hewitt and Prinze reprise their roles of Julie James and Ray Bronson, survivors of the "Fisherman" killer. If you want a refresher on the whole franchise, here's how you can watch everything I Know What You Did Last Summer — including the TV series and the third movie that went straight to video. (It's not so much of a big deal now for something to go straight to streaming, but at the time, straight-to-video was a bad sign.) In the original movie, a group of four friends accidentally hit a man with a car during the summer before they head off to college. They decide to keep the incident a secret, and one year later begin receiving messages from someone who claims to know what they did. Soon, a killer known as "the Fisherman" starts coming after the group as they try to figure out the mystery surrounding the death. STREAM ON MGM+ A year after the release of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the aptly titled sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, hit theaters. It's set one year after the end of the first movie, and Hewitt and Prinze return. This time, "the Fisherman" follows a friend group—including new additions Brandy and Mekhi Phifer—on their trip to the Bahamas. Gore ensues. RENT/BUY ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO The third movie in the franchise is a standalone sequel, meaning it does include any of the cast from the other two movies and the story is separate, too. This time, a group decides to keep the accidental death of one of their friends secret, because their town believes that he was killed by "the Fisherman." Of course, the real "Fisherman" killer then comes after them. The cast of this movie includes Brooke Levin, David Paetkau, Ben Easter, and Torrey DeVitto. RENT/BUY ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO A TV series adaptation of I Know What You Did Last Summer debuted on Amazon Prime Video in 2021. (By the way, everything in the franchise is based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan.) The show lasted for one season and starred Madison Iseman, Bill Heck, and Brianne Tju. It follows a friend group who cover up a death of one of the friends' twin sister. STREAM ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO This brings us to the newest movie, which has the same title as the original and the same premise. This time, though, the group at the center of the story have past "Fisherman" killer history to look back on and can seek advice from Hewitt and Prinze's characters. The new stars include Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, and Jonah Hauer-King. BUY TICKETS HERE
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'I Know What You Did Last Summer' killer wanted shocking twist to 'break hearts'
Spoiler alert! We're discussing the major reveal at the end of the new "I Know What You Did Last Summer." If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to know the twist, stop reading now. Say it ain't so, Ray! The new "I Know What You Did Last Summer" sequel (in theaters now) concludes with one of the most shocking twists in recent horror movies: Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.), a core survivor from the original two films, is now the killer. At least, one of them. The other killer is Stevie Ward (Sarah Pidgeon), who was with her friends when they accidentally caused a car accident and covered up their involvement − a situation quite similar to what Ray and his friends went through in 1997. Stevie later discovers the victim of the accident was someone she knew: Sam Cooper, who she became close with after going to rehab. Sam was coming to check on her the night of the accident to make sure she hadn't relapsed. So Stevie sets out to avenge Sam's death and teams up with Ray, her boss and mentor, who uses the 1997 murders as a playbook. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Prinze tells USA TODAY that when he first heard the idea of turning Ray into a killer, he "definitely had a big question, which is, 'Why? What has to happen to make someone go down that road?' " But after a discussion with director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson about how Ray's trauma would have led him to this dark place, he was on board. Who's the killer in 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'? "Ray is dealing with these feelings of abandonment," Robinson explains. "He is dealing with all this anger. He is dealing with something that he has totally buried and repressed. When this surrogate daughter comes to him and tells him what has happened, which mirrors everything that started sending his life down this path, it triggers something in him and causes this break." Prinze sees Ray as a "broken man," who has spent more than 20 years running from his trauma. "When he sees what happens to this young girl, and the similarities that they went through, everything comes back to him being this 21-year old boy," he says. "Now, his response isn't going to be to run away anymore. It's going to be to fight, because running hasn't gotten him anything." For Ray, "this is about revenge," Prinze adds, noting that he truly believes he's "setting things right the way they should be." But it was important to Prinze that he not come across like a stereotypical villain. "I wanted people to feel sorry for him in a weird way when they see his reason why," he says. "I didn't want it to come off like a James Bond villain speech. I was looking for something more nuanced, and I wanted people to be like, 'No, not you!' I wanted it to break people's hearts." In Robinson's mind, Ray wasn't the kind of person who was capable of this in the first two movies. "I don't think that this break would have ever happened had it not been for his connection to Stevie," she says. At the same time, there are seeds of what was to come in the 1997 film, in which Ray was falsely suspected of being the killer. "This person has been pushed around and pushed aside and told that he was a certain thing," Robinson says. "It's kind of the Harvey Dent thing (from 'The Dark Knight'). You die the hero, or you live long enough to become the villain." 'IKWYDLS' ending aims to leave fans heartbroken Chase Sui Wonders, whose character Ava is targeted by Ray at the end of the movie, remembers that when she read the reveal, "I threw (the script) across my room. It was so shocking." Jennifer Love Hewitt was similarly surprised, but feels the twist fits well with the first two films. "If you go back and you watch the movies, he always was angry about who he was in that town, and who he was going to be and how he was going to be able to grow past it all," she says. "I do think, ultimately, it makes sense when you think about it. But I am so curious to see what the audience is going to say." Prinze says he's "really proud" of his performance and happy with the direction for the character. But he acknowledges the twist is a "big swing" that may prove divisive. "I know some fans are going to be like, 'You took Ray away from us, and that's not fair,' and I get it," he says. "There's going to be other fans that think it's awesome, and I get that. I appreciate both sides. But both sides need to know that I gave everything to that performance that I know how to give, and I committed 100%. I loved what they did with the character, or I wouldn't have done it." And despite's Ray death, Prinze isn't ready to say this is the end for him in the franchise. "As far as saying goodbye," he says, "you never freaking know in a horror movie."
USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'I Know What You Did Last Summer': Why Jennifer Love Hewitt was a 'nervous wreck'
When Jennifer Love Hewitt learned a new "I Know What You Did Last Summer" movie was in the works, her first reaction was "immediate fear and panic that I might have to be in it." Hewitt starred in the original 1997 slasher movie, in which a group of friends run over a pedestrian and are hunted by a killer who knows what they did. But she hasn't played Julie James since the 1998 sequel, when she was 19. So before filming began on the latest "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (in theaters July 18), Hewitt was a "nervous wreck." "Coming back at 46 is really daunting in Hollywood, for lots of reasons," she says. "You don't want people to be like, 'Oh, she looks different,' or 'She's aged.' You don't want any of that." Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox But Hewitt also felt "deeply grateful that I was not forgotten" when she returned to the role for the first time in almost 30 years. The actress's nerves were eased, and she "fully started crying" when the extras in her first scene welcomed her back with a round of applause. "It meant so much to me," she says. "I felt like, 'Oh, I'm supported, and I should be here.' " History repeats itself in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" when a new group of friends is targeted by a killer as revenge for their involvement in a fatal car accident a year earlier. After the friends − played by Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers and Sarah Pidgeon − realize something similar occurred in 1997, they turn to the survivors of the original film: Julie (Hewitt) and Ray Bronson, played by a returning Freddie Prinze Jr. Prinze was enticed back by director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's ("Do Revenge") pitch for a film exploring how the same events can affect people in different ways. In the years since Julie and Ray's friends were murdered, she has become a professor who teaches about post-traumatic stress disorder and the importance of dealing with trauma. Ray, in contrast, bottles up his emotions. "It gave me this idea of trauma making or breaking human beings," Prinze says. "The people I know that have been reformed from it, and the people I know who are crushed by it, and my own trauma, my own experiences that you can apply to bring some vulnerability to the role." Ray and Julie were a couple the last time fans saw them but have since divorced, a decision that felt right for both actors. "There was no way that they could be in a healthy relationship after what they went through," says Prinze, who imagines that Ray's neglect of counseling contributed to the marriage breaking down. For Prinze, working with Hewitt again was like a high school reunion. "You're waiting to see what's different, what's the same, how you've grown," he says, noting he was ready to prove he's a better actor now than he was in the '90s. But a fast-paced shooting schedule left the pair with little time to catch up before being thrown into their first scene together. "There was a 'Good morning,' and 'I heard you have kids,' " he jokes. Hewitt says the 27 years between movies allowed her to deliver a richer performance. "Had we done this earlier, I would not have had real grief in my life," she says. "I would not have had trauma to overcome at that point, and I've had those things now." While the new film heavily echoes its predecessor, there are tweaks to the central scenario. The original friends hit a pedestrian with their car and dumped his body in the water. But the new characters' role in the accident is less direct, as they don't run over anyone. Instead, one of them is messing around on the road, causing a driver to swerve, crash and fall off a cliff into the water. The group then hides the fact that they were there. The director saw this change as a way to add complexity. "There's more nuance in morality in 2025," she says. The characters are also in their 20s this time, not teens. "There's more accountability when you're older," Robinson says. "The weight of their decisions matter more. You can't blame it on youth." Cline points out that the blueprint for her character, Danica, was Sarah Michelle Gellar's fan favorite, Helen Shivers from the first movie. Danica is even the winner of the same beauty pageant as Helen. But if the new film has its own Julie James, it's Wonders' Ava Brucks, who goes to visit the actual Julie for advice. The "Bodies Bodies Bodies" actress aimed to capture the "sweet heart" of Hewitt's original character. Hewitt, who now shares the "I Know" franchise with her children, drew on her relationship with her daughter to inform Julie's protective feelings toward Ava ‒ a dynamic that extended off-camera. She remembers having a conversation with Wonders, 29, about passing the torch, which echoed a discussion Hewitt had with Sigourney Weaver on the 2001 rom-com "Heartbreakers." "I was able to say, 'Passing this baton to you guys feels great, and I hope that you take this baton and you pass it on 27 years from now,' " she says. Wonders was thankful Hewitt was "so generous" and hopes she can one day return the favor to a younger actress. "My crowning moment was Jennifer Love Hewitt grabbing my hand after the very last scene we shot together, and she said, 'You have the Julie James heart,' " she says. "I started crying. It was so emotional and so sweet."
Arab Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
Nostalgia and gore collide in the new 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'
LOS ANGELES, July 17, (AP): The new "I Know What You Did Last Summer' pretty much follows the plot of the 1997 film of the same name: A bunch of well-to-do young people get stalked and killed by a vengeful killer in a rain slicker with an ice hook. It even has some of the same stars. "It's 1997 all over again. It's so nostalgic,' says Freddie Prinze Jr., who stars in both, this time around. Responds another returning star, Jennifer Love Hewitt: "Nostalgia is overrated.' That line deserves a big laugh from a so-called "legacy sequel' that blends old and new to resurrect a franchise long dormant but isn't sure where it sits in 2025. A wink here, an eye-gouging there. By aping the structure of the original - maddeningly calling itself by its predecessor's name - the new version of "I Know What You Did Last Summer' is both too tentative a step forward and yet too reliant on the past to fully break free of that gravitational pull. The new installment follows a group of post-high school friends (Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Sarah Pidgeon, and Tyriq Withers) who cause a fatal car wreck on July Fourth and swear to keep their involvement a secret. But a year later, someone wants them dead, offering the anniversary warning: "I know what you did last summer.' This is a franchise that got a bit lost in the shadow of the "Scream' dynasty, but still helped make household names of such Gen X heroes as Prinze, Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe. A relaunch makes sense, but it's pretty vapid stuff until the OGs arrive. In fact, you may find yourself rooting for the killer. The five youngsters who have grown up in Southport, North Carolina - "the Hamptons of the South' - mostly live lives of nepo privilege, drinking from flasks, driving Volvos, munching on macarons, and taking Adderall. One lives on a 156-foot (48-meter) yacht with three decks. The movie mostly muddles along like a TV special, only coming to life when Prinze and Hewitt arrive, asked by the hunted youngsters for guidance. After all, the duo survived the 1997 attacks. "Get them before they get you,' Hewitt's Julie advises. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Lansky, mixes gruesome stabbings, harpoon impalings, and corpses displayed on hooks like fish at the dock with jokes that needle everything from Nicole Kidman's cheesy AMC commercials to our fling with true-crime podcasts. The filmmakers make half-hearted attempts to explain the ripple effects from trauma but we're not here for generational pain; we're here for the slashy-slashy. There is one dream sequence with a surprise returning OG that's worth the ticket price alone. The tone is all over the place - whimpering victims one moment, horny the next. The police in Southport are nefarious - in a nod to "Jaws,' they cover up the murders for fear of turning off tourism - but there's a "Scooby-Doo' vibe here (even a mention) that seems less playful than idea-deprived. There are elements of spoof, too, like a vain woman who has just lost someone close in a grisly bloodbath but worries about her skin care. Look, we hate to break it to you, it's not going to end well for many of this privileged set, as they hunt whoever is hunting them. Coherence is also stabbed a lot because a clear motive for the mass murder is really hard to understand. No matter: We get the scene when a scared victim with a massive knife sticking out of her back shoots a harpoon gun at the hook killer, and that's why we came in the first place. We also get Hewitt screaming her catchphrase, mocking her attacker: "What are you waiting for?' Well, what are you waiting for? "I Know What You Did Last Summer,' a Sony Pictures release in theaters Friday, is rated R for "bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use.' Running time: 111 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
‘She's all that' reunion: Freddie Prinze Jr. talks about starring alongside Rachael Leigh cook in ‘The Christmas 'Affair'—Deets inside!
'The Christmas Affair' is an upcoming film starring and . The two will be reuniting again on screen after they led the 1999 favorite 'She's All That.' Recently, Prinze opened up about filming for his upcoming project as well as his experience working with Cook again after all these years. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Freddie opens up about the upcoming project, 'The Christmas Affair' On July 14, during the red carpet premiere for 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' the actor reunited with on screen, sending fans into a frenzy. Prinze also seems to be on a roll lately, as he recently talked all about reuniting with another beloved actress, Rachael Leigh Cook, for his next film! While in conversation with Deadline, the star revealed that the production for his next project, 'The Christmas Affair,' is underway. He shared that he will be filming for the movie in the coming months of October and November this year in New York. Prinze addresses the reunion with Rachael Jr. will be sharing the screen with Rachael Leigh Cook again after their beloved film 'She's All That,' which was released in 1999. While talking about the actress, the actor shared that, 'I'm really excited to film with her again. She's one of my closest friends; I love her to death. She's like a sister to me. I know her kids; she knows my kids. We've been close ever since that first movie, and I don't know why it's taken us this long to work together again, but it did. ' About 'The Christmas Affair' 'The Christmas Affair' is focused on sportscasters Natalie and Gabe, who randomly get involved in each other's lives after they find their respective partners cheating right before Christmas. The romantic comedy is all about the two falling for one another and exploring whether this is just a rebound or something more.
