Secret feud behind iconic Nineties horror movie revealed 27 years on – and fans knew nothing about it
CAST your mind back to the late nineties and I Know What You Did Last Summer was the unexpected hit of the year.
The 1997 teen horror film was a box office smash and made film stars of all of its young cast.
However, 27 years on it has been revealed that the movie was actually embroiled in a secret behind-the-scenes feud that fans knew nothing about.
The film follows four friends who, after a night of partying, accidentally run over a man and dump his body to conceal their secret.
However, the following year what they did last summer comes back to haunt them, with horrific repercussions.
The teens find themselves the target of a blood thirsty fisherman, hell bent on revenge.
The movie made stars out of actors like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar and her husband Freddie Prinze Jr.
But fast forward nearly three decades since the movie dropped and it seems all was not fine with one person when the movie was made.
It has emerged that the author who wrote the book that the picture is based on, was never happy with how the film turned out.
The late writer Loise Duncan penned the novel I Know What You Did last Summer in 1973.
It has since been noted how the book was extremely different from the final product.
It even got to the point where Lois, who sold the movie rights for $150K refused to visit the set after reading the script and being mortified seeing the final cut.
In an unearthed interview, Lois, who died in 2016, didn’t hold back when giving her opinion of the movie.
The author said of the film: “There is no way I want to be part of desensitizing kids to violence and turning murder into a game to see who can scream the loudest.”
This will come of a surprise to die-hard fans of the film, who never knew of the secret feud between the author and the movie producers.
I Know What You Did Last Summer cast
The famous film saw many famous actors get their big break.
The cast included:
- Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers
- Ryan Phillippe as Barry Cox
- Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray Bronson
- Johnny Galecki as Max Neurick
- Bridgette Wilson as Elsa Shivers
- Anne Heche as Melissa “Missy” Egan
- Muse Watson as Ben Willis / The Fisherman
I Know What You Did Last Summer hit cinemas in 1997, with the book being adapted into a script by Kevin Williamson.
The screenwriter is well known for his teen horror movies like the Scream franchise and TV shows like The Vampire Diaries.
I Know What You Did Last Summer also spawned a less successful sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
However, the film is now being rebooted and a new version of the movie will be released in July 2025.
But before fans get too excited, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar previously revealed she WON’T be part of it, and gave a good reason why.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the actress squashed rumours that she was in talks to return to the film, even though her friend Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is directing it.
“As I explained to Jennifer, I am dead. I am dead dead. On ice,” Sarah said of her character Helen Shivers and the violent way she was killed off in the 1997 film.
Going on the actress said: “She’s like, ‘Are you sure you’re dead dead?’ I’m like, ‘It’s soap-dish dead. I don’t have a head! You can’t write for someone that doesn’t have a head. I’m dead.’ “
In the interview, the Buffy star went on to talk about how her and her husband, and I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star, Freddie Prinze Jr. watched the movie again recently.
The actress said: “My husband is starting a podcast going over old horror movies and the first one that they’re doing on his podcast is I Know What You Did Last Summer.
“So he was at the house watching it and I honestly don’t think that I’d seen it since it came out.
“I was watching that scene when she’s like two seconds away from getting to the party and then they get her.”