Apparently the 2015 Scream series was less of an oddball curiosity and more of a sign of the times. Amazon Prime is following in the footsteps of MTV’s thriller adaptation with their own take on the 1997 slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer. Created by Sara Goodman of Preacher and Gossip Girl fame, the series has just officially been ordered by Amazon, presumably with a “sure, why not?” being uttered at least once.
The original 1997 film, based on the 1973 Lois Duncan novel also titled I Know What You Did Last Summer, followed a group of teenagers being relentlessly stalked by a mysterious killer a year after they had accidentally killed a man in a car crash. The new series aims to be a modern retelling of the novel’s story, just like the film was at the time. After 2015’s Scream (as well as the upcoming fifth film in the Scream franchise), this new series seems to be the latest attempt to bring back the popular 90s slasher genre.
Set to be developed through Sony Pictures Television, the show is classified as a YA (young adult) series, keeping in line with Amazon’s recent trend of picking up similar shows aimed at that specific audience. Others include The Wilds (from Daredevil‘s Sarah Streicher) and Panic (based on author Lauren Oliver’s book of the same name). The typical YA structure of some typical coming of age tropes taking place in unusual (and often harrowing) circumstances will likely strike a rather harmonious chord with its target audience in this world of plagues and deadly politics.
Horror as a genre seems to be pining fondly for simpler times these days, with a combination of new projects based on classic tales and the resurgence of old favorites in less conventional contexts. Sure, there are still plenty of new ideas floating around thanks to visionary directors like Jordan Peele, and that perseverance of ideas in the face of strict lockdowns (that could frankly stand to be stricter) is downright inspirational. But as proven by the success of certain rereleases, large chunks of audiences know what they want, and what they want is nostalgia.
Aside from nostalgia, cases like I Know What You Did Last Summer will not only revive a franchise thought to lay dormant, but could also bring in an entirely new generation of fans who will be delighted to find out this new show they like is based on a movie they can watch RIGHT NOW. In a time where new stuff to binge is as precious as non-perishable canned goods, reboots could help out in some unexpected ways.
So for the sake of viewers both old and new, hopefully I Know What You Did Last Summer ends up pleasing audiences. While one might argue that a bad horror movie is technically the ultimate meta horror, usually it’s best to just go for quality.
Source: Variety
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