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Credit: 20th Century StudiosSarah Michelle Gellar was one of the biggest stars of the late ’90s, rising to infamy during her appearance as the titular teen hero in the hit horror/drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Now, she’s due to return in a highly anticipated revival series.
That’s right — Buffy is being brought back to life for a new generation. Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face) are on writing duties, while Chloé Zhao (Marvel’s Eternals, Nomadland) is attached to direct and also executive produce, alongside Gail Berman, Fran Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui, Dolly Parton (all four served as EPs on the original Buffy series), and Sarah Michelle Gellar herself.
The new series will focus on a new set of characters, with Sarah Michelle Gellar as “a recurring guest star,” undoubtedly a substitute of sorts for Anthony Head’s Rupert Giles, who trained her in the original series. Now, Buffy, a legacy character, will train a new Slayer to defend the world against vampires and other demonic creatures of the night.
Of course, Sarah Michelle Gellar, 48, is remembered for more than just her turn as Buffy Summers. She also portrayed Daphne Blake in the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies. But going back to her ’90s reign, she also appeared as Helen Shivers in another teen horror — the cult classic slasher, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).
Riding the coat tails of Scream (1996), the film, which also stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as the lead (Julie James), Ryan Phillippe (Barry Cox), and Gellar’s now-real-life husband Freddie Prinze Jr. (Ray Bronson), centers on a group of teens who accidentally become involved in a hut and run after graduation. One year later, a mysterious vengeful figure begins dispatching them one by one. The twist? They know what these teens did last summer.
Gellar didn’t return for the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), as she was killed off in the first film. As such, she won’t be returning for the new legacy sequel I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025), either, whose first trailer dropped on Tuesday.
While the Scooby-Doo star will be offering plenty of survival tips to the new Slayer in the Buffy revival, her I Know What You Did co-stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. (also her husband) will be taking on similar duties in the upcoming slasher revival, helping a group of teens who find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation where a creepy man in a raincoat wielding a hook is seeking revenge for a hit and run the year prior.
Watch the trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) from Sony Entertainment:
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Fans of Sarah Michelle Gellar will be pleased to see that there’s a reference to her character in the form of a photograph in the trailer. Whether or not we’ll get some sort of flashback featuring Gellar remains to be seen, but never say never, as Scream 7 has confirmed that it’s bringing back several actors whose characters were killed off in previous Scream films.
Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (who co-wrote Thor: Love and Thunder), the film follows a new generation of teens who cause a deadly car accident. But after thinking they’ve covered up the accident, the secret returns one year later to terrorize them in brutal ways.
“When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences,” the official synopsis from Sony reads. “A year later, their past comes back to haunt them and they’re forced to confront a horrifying truth: someone knows what they did last summer…and is hell-bent on revenge. As one by one the friends are stalked by a killer, they discover this has happened before, and they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997 for help.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) releases in theaters on July 18. There’s no release date for the Buffy revival series.
Which are you most excited for, the Buffy series or I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)? Let us know in the comments down below!