Sarah Michelle Gellar won’t be facing off against The Fisherman again anytime soon. Amid hype surrounding the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot, which is slated for a 2025 release, the actress has set the record straight on the possibility of her reprising the role of Helen Shivers, who was memorably killed in the 1997 movie.
“I am dead,” Gellar, 47, told PEOPLE, before sharing that she will be involved in the film in an unofficial capacity. “My best friend [Jennifer Kaytin Robinson] is directing it, so we joke that I have an unofficial job, which is I am continuity. So I’m always the one telling her, ‘Well, that would happen, or that wouldn’t happen with those characters,’ so I do have kind of an unofficial job title.”
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Gellar led the original 1997 film alongside her now-husband Freddie Prinze Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Ryan Phillippe. Directed by Jim Gillespie and loosely based on Lois Duncan’s 1973 novel of the same name, the iconic slasher follows a group of teenage friends who, after attempting to cover up a car accident, find themselves stalked by a villain with a hook, dubbed The Fisherman. Gellar’s character, a beauty queen, was memorably slashed to death by the killer’s hook.
Due to her character’s demise, Gellar did not return for the 1998 direct sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, or the 2006 reboot, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. There was also a TV series based on the property released by Amazon in 2021.
While Gellar may not be returning for the upcoming reboot, her husband is confirmed to reprise his role as Ray Bronson. He joins a cast the includes Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, and Jonah Haur-King. Hewitt, who starred as Julie James in the franchise’s first two installments, is also reportedly in talks to join.
The upcoming reboot was first confirmed to be in the works back in February 2023 and will be directed by Do Revenge and Someone Great director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, with Leah McKendrick (M.F.A.) writing the screenplay. Plot details haven’t been shared at this time. The film is currently slated to hit theaters on July 18, 2025.
