Movies

’90s Horror Reboot ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Struggles to Scare Up Box Office Success

BBG News

As a cinephile eagerly anticipating the summer blockbusters, I can hardly contain my excitement as Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprise their iconic roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson in the highly anticipated sequel to “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” This upcoming horror film, slated for release this July, will be the first time we’ve seen these characters since 1998’s “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.”

However, I find myself pondering whether director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s unique spin on Lois Duncan’s original work will be potent enough to lure audiences back to theaters during this action-packed season. The anticipation is palpable!

Based on predictions for its box office performance, it seems that “I Know What You Did Last Summer” may not be as popular among fans as expected. In fact, the anticipated earnings for its opening weekend domestically are quite low, starting at just $16 million. Even if the movie manages to meet the higher end of these predictions ($25 million), it would still fall short of being one of the highest-grossing horror film debuts of 2025, despite any potential increases in earnings due to summer box office trends.

Biggest Opening Weekends for 2025 Horror Films (Domestic)

  1. Final Destination: Bloodlines ($51.6 million)
  2. Sinners ($48 million)
  3. 28 Years Later ($30 million)
  4. I Know What You Did Last Summer ($16 million) *low end of forecast
  5. The Monkey ($14 million)

Regardless if I Know What You Did Last Summer earns around $16 million or up to $25 million, its sequel will likely place no higher than fourth in the list of top-grossing horror movies during their opening weekends in 2025. With that projection in mind, we’re curious where Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the original Fisherman survivors rank among this year’s horror films and overall performance so far.

‘Sinners’ Continues to Reign as the Highest-Grossing Horror Film of 2025

Jennifer Love Hewitt appears eager to reprise her role as Julie James in I Know What You Did Last Summer, but it seems the long-awaited sequel could get overshadowed amidst the epic showdown between James Gunn’s Superman and the debut of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Releasing on July 18, I Know What You Did Last Summer finds itself sandwiched between the premiere of the new Superman (David Corenswet) on July 11 and the feature-length debut of Marvel’s First Family in the MCU on July 25. With these two blockbusters on the horizon, they could potentially hinder the horror film’s box office success.

Highest-Grossing Horror Movies of 2025 (Domestic)

  1. Sinners ($278.2 million)
  2. Final Destination: Bloodlines ($137.1 million)
  3. 28 Years Later ($54.4 million)
  4. I Know What You Did Last Summer ($35 million) *low end of forecast
  5. Heart Eyes ($30.4 million)

If “I Know What You Did Last Summer” manages to earn $67 million domestically, which is the maximum projected earnings, it would still fall short of the original film’s domestic gross of $72.6 million from 1997. Moreover, the original movie also made an additional $53 million internationally, totaling $125.6 million worldwide. Therefore, it’s evident that the upcoming sequel faces a challenging task in terms of earning substantial revenue when it hits theaters on July 18, 2025, and even surpassing the highest-grossing horror film of the year.

Sources: Box Office Theory, The Numbers, Box Office Mojo

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2025-07-04 16:33

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