Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has a message for fans who want to know if Brandy Norwood will appear in the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel: “You’ll have to go see the movie.” Recently speaking with People, the Do Revenge helmer was reluctant to share too much about the possibility of the pop superstar reprising her role as Karla Wilson from the 1998 film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. With fellow survivors, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. having long been signed on to be part of the legacy follow-up, all eyes have been focused on Norwood as another original member of the friend group who nearly got caught on the hook of the crazed killer.
The actress has previously made comments surrounding her hopeful return to the slasher epic, and Robinson has been clear from the jump that her movie will honor the original and its 1998 follow-up as canon. With great power comes great responsibility, and Robinson was totally aware that being the director of the long-awaited sequel meant she needed to both be an expert and honor the stories that got us to this point. Speaking about a bump in the road that she experienced with co-writer Sam Lanksy, the director said,
“We actually got in a really big fight about the canon of I Still Know. One of our first big fights together about this project was we were both talking about just how much weight it should hold in Julie’s story — because what happens in that movie is so, so, so, so crazy that it would probably make you never trust anyone again.”
For a refresher, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, followed the first film’s survivors, Julie James (Hewitt) and Ray Bronson (Prinze Jr.), after their group of friends nabs the trip of a lifetime thanks to correctly answering a question on a radio show. A bunch of crazy things happen on the trip (we’re talking bonkers murders) before it’s revealed that not only did they answer the question wrong, but Julie has been lured to the island by the original killer’s son, who had previously weaseled his way into their friend group. It’s a true family affair. So, yeah, we could very much understand why Julie would never be able to trust another soul after that mega-sized bait and switch.
The original movie boasted a lineup of talent that also included Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar and the follow-up only kept the party going. Many will completely forget that the Jack Black played a pot-smoking employee at the resort, while Mekhi Phifer appears as Norwood’s on-screen boyfriend, Tyrell. The film also features appearances by Gossip Girls’ Matthew Settle and Blue Bloods’ Jennifer Esposito.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Norwood’s fate as Karla and whether her story will continue, audiences will just have to wait until I Know What You Did Last Summer hooks its way into cinemas on July 18.
