Sony Pictures appears to be headed for another theatrical embarrassment. The studio’s upcoming reboot of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot is tracking for a limp $12M opening weekend.
That’s a weak number for a franchise revival, especially one so heavily banking on ’90s nostalgia. And yet, I can’t fully call this one a disaster since the production budget was a measly $18M. It might, maybe, make its money back.
Regardless, more bad news, the review embargo has lifted on ‘I Know What You Did,’ and the film is — unsurprisingly— getting negative ink from critics. So far, 42 on Metacritic and 45% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The original “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was this glossy, post-Scream slasher that briefly turned Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. into teen royalty. Hewitt, who once headlined everything from “Can’t Hardly Wait” to “Party of Five,” is back, joined again by Prinze Jr., in what’s being dubbed a “soft reboot” of the original 1997 film.
The new film brings in a younger cast (Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, and Jonah Hauer-King); it was written by Sam Lansky and The Kissing Booth’s Kaytin Robinson. No, not exactly pedigree screenwriting.
The trailer felt uninspired — a generic horror sizzle reel that could have come from any number of Blumhouse leftovers. The bad reviews shouldn’t come as much of a shock. Reactions to early test screenings were also terrible.
The original “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” if anything, coasted on the goodwill of Scream’s success and gave just enough teen horror to justify two sequels. The third, “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, “ was a straight-to-DVD affair in 2006 that effectively buried the franchise. This was always a second-tier horror brand, remembered more for its casting than its scares.
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” hits theaters July 18.