Venice Critics’ Week, the sidebar section of the Venice Film Festival, unveiled its lineup Monday, revealing the opening and closing films as well as the seven-title competition.
The section runs Aug. 27-Sept. 6.
Stereo Girls, a 1990s-set drama from Caroline Deruas Peano about the relationship of two 17-year-old girls, will open Venice Critics’ Week, screening out of competition. Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, a “feminist fairy tale” starring Emma Corrin, Charli XCX, Maika Monroe, Nicholas Galitzine, Richard E. Grant, Amir El-Masry and Felicity Jones, will close the sidebar.
The 2025 competition lineup also includes Giulio Bertelli’s Agon, a drama centered around female athletes competing in fictional Olympics; Straight Circle, a dark comedy centered on two soldiers in an isolated barracks, and the feature debut of music video director Oscar Hudson; and Ish from Imran Perretta, which explores the lasting impact of a traumatic incident, on two 12-year-old boys, of a police stop and search.
The Venice main competition lineup will be announced Tuesday. Two-time Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne (The Holdovers, Sideways, Nebraska) will head up its jury as president. He will be joined by Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, French director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé (At War), Italian director and screenwriter Maura Delpero (Vermiglio), Palme d’Or winning Romanian director Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao (Ash Is the Purest White)
Check out the full Venice Critics’ Week program below.
Venice Critics’ Week
Competition Agon, Giulio Bertelli (Italy, U.S., France) Cotton Queen, Suzannah Mirghani (Germany, France, Palestine, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) Gorgonà, Evi Kalogiropoulou (Greece, France) Ish, Imran Perretta (U.K.) Roqia, Yanis Koussim (Algeria, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) Straight Circle, Oscar Hudson (U.K.) Waking Hours, Federico Cammarata, Filippo Foscarini (Italy)
Out of Competition Opening Film: Stereo Girls, Caroline Deruas Peano (France, Canada) Closing Film: 100 Nights of Hero, Julia Jackman (U.K.)
L.A.-based Citizen Skull Productions has boarded In the End, Everything Will Be Okay, the second feature from Spanish filmmaker Néstor Ruiz Medina.
The Hollywood Reporter can also present photos from the set of the project that is currently shooting across various regions of Spain, including Cuenca, Madrid, and Cádiz.
The film stars collaborators from Medina’s previous work, including Money Heist star Esther Acebo, who played Stockholm in the Netflix hit series, Roberto Manrique (Sin Senos Sí Hay Paraíso), María Lázaro (21Positions), Alex Sorian Brown (Evan Wood, Hour and Twenty), Álvaro Manso (30 Monedas), Nüll García (Punto Nemo), Elena Zurita (Islas) and Ana Ruano (Breathless, El Ser Querido).
Its involvement marks a key step in Citizen Skull’s effort to grow its presence in Europe. “Citizen Skull is excited to join this project and to continue to expand into the European marketplace,” said owner and producer MarkMyers.
On the In the End, Everything Will Be Okay set: Alex Sorian Brown (right), Arya Laborda, Enrique Rodriguez.
Courtesy of Roberto Vivar
The film’s narrative intertwines the stories of several protagonists: Enrique, a 70-year-old man facing eviction from his boat; his niece Paloma, who leaves her daughter with him while attending a spiritual retreat to reset her chaotic life; Víctor, Paloma’s ex, who cares for elderly people and lives with Blanca, a social media influencer hiding secrets; and Santiago, a street-surviving member of the Furry community fighting to save his sick dog Rubio.
“We came across this project at the Marché du Film and felt it was the perfect opportunity to continue our expansion into the Spanish market with a story that is Spanish at its core, yet conceived for international audiences,” said Tonja Rene, producer and manager at Citizen Skull.
On the In the End, Everything Will Be Okay set: Roberto Manrique (left), Elena Zurita and director Nestor Ruiz Medina.
Courtesy of Arbe Garcia
The film is produced by Spain’s Mono con Pistolas, Sorenfilms, and Hackeo Productions, with backing from regional and local governments, including the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and the Diputación de Cuenca.
Medina, whose feature debut was 21Positions, is a two-time Goya nominee for his short films.
Esther Acebo and director Nestor Ruiz Medina on the In the End, Everything Will Be Okay set.
Courtesy of Arbe Garcia
“Filming in Cuenca, where my family is originally from, is deeply personal,” he said. “We’re also shooting in Cádiz, where I live now, and in Madrid, where I grew up. This mosaic of locations helps us move beyond the usual production hubs, such as Barcelona or the Canary Islands. It’s also a gesture toward decentralizing Spanish cinema.”
Citizen Skull recently wrapped Serena Y, a Spanish-American short directed by Italian filmmaker Francesco Cocco, with several other projects in early development as part of its broader European strategy.
Alex Sorian Brown, courtesy of Roberto Vivar.
Courtesy of Roberto Vivar
In the End, Everything Will Be Okay is expected to wrap principal photography in late September, with delivery slated for later this year.
Adam Sandler said he had to rewrite Happy Gilmore 2 following Carl Weathers‘ death.
The actor and comedian, who is reprising his role as Happy Gilmore in the sequel to his beloved 1996 sports comedy, recently told Collider that Weathers’ Derick “Chubbs” Peterson was planning to return for the new movie before he died last year at age 76.
“We had a painful change. Carl Weathers had a massive part,” Sandler shared. “I would talk to Carl, and we were excited, and then Carl passed away. We had to rewrite a lot of the stuff, and even what the story was. We made a lot of nice references to how great Chubbs was in the movie. That was the biggest change.”
Sandler added that in initial drafts of the sequel’s script, Chubbs had a much larger presence. “In the first version that we came up with, he had a son,” he said. “He was coming back to me a lot in my dreams, and he had a son who was mad at Happy for causing the death of daddy.”
Weathers played Chubbs, a pro golfer who is forced to retire after his hand is bitten off by an alligator, having to use a wooden hand, in 1996’s Happy Gilmore.
Happy Gilmore 2, directed by Kyle Newacheck, premieres on Netflix on July 25. Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Ben Stiller also reprised their roles from the original film, while new castmembers include Bad Bunny, Margaret Qualley, Benny Safdie, Travis Kelce and Kym Whitley.
Following Weathers’ death, Sandler took to social media to pay tribute to his former co-star. “A true great man. Great dad. Great actor. Great athlete,” he wrote at the time. “So much fun to be around always. Smart as hell. Loyal as hell. Funny as hell. Loved his sons more than anything. What a guy!!”
In a nondescript conference room on the very descript floor of Marvel Studios (full size Iron Man statues, superhero murals and movie props) is a padlocked door. Behind that padlocked door is a white board featuring a plan for Marvel movies spanning the next seven years.
So teased Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, the producer behind the most successful run of movies in Hollywood’s history, as he welcomed a select group of journalists into the same room where he first met Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch and where filmmaker Chloe Zhao pitched her take on Eternals.
Marvel’s run has been tested of late, this year especially with Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World, which grossed among the lowest totals for the company. But Feige isn’t interested in your theories of superhero fatigue, which he doesn’t buy as real. He pointed to DC Studios’ Superman, which is doing strong at the box office, at least domestically.
Feige said he texted filmmaker James Gunn to let him know how much he liked it.
“I love how you just jump right into it,” Fiege enthused of the film, which Gunn directed after he helmed three Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel before decamping to run DC Studios. “You don’t know who Mr. Terrific is? Tough. You’ll figure it out. You don’t know what this is? Just go, go. This is a fully fleshed-out world.”
Even if he doesn’t buy the idea of superhero fatigue, Feige and his team have done plenty of post-mortems on this year’s underperforming movies, and on all their movies since the massive success of Avengers: Endgame.
Right now, the company is prepping for the July 25 release of its latest movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s the first time Marvel Studios is handling the characters, after a trio of movies of various quality and box office made by Twentieth Century Fox before its 2019 acquisition by Disney. There was also the never-released, 1994 feature produced low-budget king Roger Corman. (Fun fact: the four stars of that movie cameo in First Steps.)
One thing that Feige seemed to relish is that this new movie is mostly self-contained and is in a fully fleshed world that doesn’t require that dreaded word “homework.”
“We didn’t want to have the Eternals issue of ‘Where were they, where have they been, how come they didn’t help with Thanos?’” he explained. “We wanted them to be apart from our reality so that we didn’t have to say, ‘Oh look, they were hiding over here.’”
And highlighting a 1960s aesthetic was more than just a period piece choice. “It was a unique aesthetic that felt like it could absolutely be its own world, its own reality,” said Feige. “And when we show it to audiences in the screening process that we do leading up to it, people just accept it right off the bat and feel liberated that they can just enjoy what’s ahead of them.” He underscored, “it is no-homework-required.”
In a free-wheeling discussion with the journalists, Feige, wearing a blue Fantastic Four hoodie and a Wonder Man cap, opened up on a range of topics, from what’s going on with Blade, his future at Marvel and the exit of Jonathan Majors from the MCU.
Here is what The Hollywood Reporter learned.
Yes, Feige knows Marvel made too many movies and shows (and the other things they did wrong)
From the first Iron Man in 2008 through Endgame in 2019, Marvel produced around 50 hours of screen storytelling. In the six years since Endgame, the number jumped to an astounding 102 hours of movies and television — 127 hours if you include animation.
“That’s too much,” Feige said.
He characterized the time period after Endgame as an era of experimentation, evolution and, unfortunately, expansion. And while he’s proud of the experimentation — he points to TV series WandaVision and Loki as some of the best stories they’ve made — he admits, “It’s the expansion that is certainly what devalued” that output.
Being high on success also may have pushed Marvel to readily agree to try to deliver more programming at a time when Disney and the rest of Hollywood were engaged in the streaming wars.
“It was a big company push, and it doesn’t take too much to push us to go, ‘People have been asking for Ms. Marvel for years, and now we can do it? Do it! Oscar Isaac wants to be Moon Knight? Do it!’” recalled Feige. “So there was a mandate that we were put in the middle of, but we also thought it’d be fun to bring these to life.”
Marvel has already pulled back the amount of movies and shows it makes. Some years may even only have one movie. Certainly there will be years with only one TV show. Also, Marvel has started “grinding down” on budgets, with movies costing up to a third cheaper than the films from 2022 or 2023.
Here’s why Thunderbolts* failed (even though it’s a “very, very good movie”)
The massive expansion into television and focus on Disney+ led to the feeling that watching Marvel was becoming a type of homework.
“It’s that expansion that I think led people to say, ‘Do I have to see all of these? It used to be fun, but now do I have to know everything about all of these?’ And I think The Marvels hit it hardest where people are like, ‘OK, I recognize her from a billion-dollar movie. But who are those other two? I guess they were in some TV show. I’ll skip it.’”
This had an effect on Thunderbolts*, which featured characters that were seen on various platforms, including some only appearing on shows before hitting the big screen.
“Some of them were still feeling the residual effects of that notion of, ‘I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is,” Feige explained. “I think if you actually saw the movie, that wouldn’t be the case, and we make the movie so that’s not the case. But I think we still have to make sure the audience understands that.”
Feige is staying put at Marvel (for now)
No Hollywood executive stays in their chair forever. Whether it’s because of a change at the top or a bad run of movies, change is inevitable. And succession is a hot topic at Disney, and in Hollywood in general.
Feige was a bit circumspect on long he would stay at the company, quietly admitting he has about “two years, a little less” on his contract.
But regardless, he stated his desire is to keep making big movies for the widest possible audience.
“Do I want to be making big movies for big audiences in 10 or 15 years from now? Yes, absolutely. That’s all I want to do,” Feige said. “Marvel’s a great way to do that for me right now. But I hope to make big movies for lots of people forever more.”
Feige addresses Jonathan Majors for the first time (without talking about Jonathan Majors)
Marvel faced several curveballs in the last few years as it worked on its post-Endgame phases. Yes, there were real world issues of a pandemic and Hollywood strikes. There was the tragic loss of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. And there was the assault conviction of Jonathan Majors, the actor who was playing villain Kang and seemed to be teed up as the next big archnemesis for years to come.
Feige never mentioned Majors by name, instead calling him “Kang actor” at one point or “the actor” or just zeroing on Kang as a character. And, Feige said, Marvel was already preparing to pivot away from Kang before the Majors issue.
“We had started even before what had happened to the actor happened, we had started to realize that Kang wasn’t big enough, wasn’t Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be that, because he was that in the comics for decades and decades,” said Feige. “Because of the Fox acquisition, we finally had it, and it was Dr. Doom. So we had started talking about Dr. Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. And in fact, I had started talking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious idea before Ant-Man 3 even came out. It was a long plan that we had, to take one of our greatest characters and utilize one of our greatest actors.”
Don’t expect a live-action Miles Morales any time soon (thanks a lot, Sony)
Many fans have been for years clamoring for a live-action MCU appearance of Miles Morales, the Spider-Man who headlines the acclaimed Spider-Verse movies from Sony Animation. When asked where Marvel was in the development of a live-action version of the character, Feige responded, “That is nowhere.”
And added that Morales’ fate was in Sony’s hands.
“Sony has their brilliant, genius, incredible Spider-Verse animated franchise going and until that finishes, we’ve been told to stay away,” said Feige.
Blade being sharpened (again)
What’s the holdup with Blade? Well…
“The obstacle was Ryan Coogler called and said, ‘We’d love some costumes for Sinners.’ And we said, ‘Take them, man.’ He’s our good friend, take our costumes. We’ll hold off on the movie,” said Feige.
Feige was, of course, joking, connecting Sinners to a version of Blade that was recently being developed, one that was set in a Prohibition Era, just like Coogler’s original hit earlier this year.
Feige confirmed there had been four takes of Blade that been developed over recent times, two that were period, two that were not.
Marvel has now “landed on modern day.” And yes, Mahershala Ali is still attached.
He didn’t reveal a timeline for Blade but did say that he, and Coogler, have a timeline for Black Panther 3.
Tonal malleability is a key to Marvel’s success (yes, there will be more R-rated stories coming)
Deadpool & Wolverine as well as the Daredevil TV show have shown that Marvel is becoming more and more comfortable with pushing stories that are adult-oriented.
But its characters can also appear in age-appropriate settings when needed. It’s all a way to keep audiences interested and invested. That is how, Feige pointed out, you can have the Green Goblin build snowmen in Disney+’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends but then kill Aunt May in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Punisher is another example. The violent vigilante played by Jon Bernthal is the subject of a special that just began shooting last week and will air on Disney+ next year. It is intended to be TV-MA.
But “when Punisher is in the Spider-Man movie, it’ll be a different tonality,” said Feige, confirming the character is in the next Spidey film.
Feige still likes the flexibility of going into production without a set script
The Marvel method of moviemaking has included ever-evolving scripts and heavy-lifting in post-production. Striking a contrarian position, Gunn, after working at Marvel, has publicly stated that his DC Studios won’t begin a project without a locked script and a definite ending.
Feige says Marvel has never started a movie without a full script but also added that he’s never been satisfied with a script the company has had. “I’ve never been satisfied with a movie we’ve released,” he even added on top of that.
What he and the company like to do is “plus-ing at every turn.”
“There’s plus-ing happening every day on the Avengers: Doomsday set right now, and it is amazing to watch because what those filmmakers, those actors, both the ones that are playing these characters for the first or second time and the one playing them for the 10th or 12th time, are the best in the world at it, and know these characters so well,” said Feige. “So if they have an idea, you want to listen to it and you want to adjust to it and you want to improve it. I wouldn’t want to change that.”
Stephen McFeely is writing the script, but Feige revealed that Loki creator Michael Waldron is also helping.
[This story contains spoilers for the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot.]
Jennifer Love Hewitt is addressing the years-old rumored beef between her and her I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
During a recent interview with Vulture, the actress, who reprised her role for the new I Know What You Did Last Summer movie, said that while she’s “not talked” to Gellar since the 1997 film’s premiere, there’s no drama between them.
“I honestly don’t even know what that was or how that all came to be,” Hewitt said of her alleged feud with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star. “I just think people don’t want the narrative to be easy. Why do we always have to be against each other and out for each other?”
She added, “I haven’t seen Sarah. Literally, we’ve not talked since I saw her at 18 years old when the first movie came out. That’s why it’s so funny to me. People were like, ‘Say something back.’ And I’m like, ‘What am I going to say? I’ve not seen her.’ On my side, we’re good. I have no idea where this is coming from.”
Though Hewitt hoped to reunite with her at the new film’s premiere last week, Gellar confirmed on Instagram that they didn’t get a chance to see each other.
“For everyone asking – I never got to see @jenniferlovehewitt who is fantastic in the movie,” she wrote in one of her recent posts’ comments after fans noticed they didn’t pose together on the red carpet. “I was inside with my kids when the big carpet happened. And unfortunately JLH didn’t come to the after party. If you have ever been to one of these it’s crazy. I sadly didn’t get pics with most of the cast. But that doesn’t change how amazing I think they all are. Unfortunately some things happen only in real life and not online.”
The I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot, which hit theaters on Friday, follows a new generation of friends who are terrorized by a stalker who knows about a gruesome incident from their past. In addition to Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr. also reprised his role from the original pic. As for Gellar, while her character died in the 1997 movie, she makes a surprise appearance in the reboot during a dream sequence. Franchise newcomers include Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon and Gabbriette Bechtel.
[This story contains major spoilers for 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer.]
It’s been an especially busy summer for Madelyn Cline.
She’s not only in the middle of filming the final season of her hit Netflix series, Outer Banks, but she’s also been simultaneously promoting this weekend’s theatrical debut of Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). And that’s not even half of it. Just one month ago, she happily carved out time from her existing shooting schedule and flew from South Carolina to Los Angeles in order to film a new ending for her character in Robinson’s slasher.
In Jim Gillespie’s 1997 franchise launcher, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen Shivers played best friends until the latter met her end in a heartbreaking duel with Ben Willis’ murderous Fisherman. In Robinson’s legacy sequel to that film and 1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Chase Sui Wonders’ Ava Brucks and Cline’s Danica Richards are essentially the new Julie and Helen of Southport, North Carolina. (Spoilers ahead.)
Cline’s character is a former Croaker Beauty Pageant Queen à la Helen, and her (first) fiancé, Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers), is a wealthy loose canon just like Helen’s boyfriend Barry (Ryan Phillippe) was. However, thanks to test screening audience feedback, Danica no longer suffers the same fate as Helen, and Cline didn’t learn that her character would survive the newest Fisherman’s wrath until the middle of June.
“I only got the news that I was coming back about two-and-a-half weeks ago. We shot all those very, very end scenes about two weeks ago,” Cline tells The Hollywood Reporter during a June 28 press day.
June’s Los Angeles-based additional photography also included a new scene where Danica visits Helen’s grave and picks up a framed picture of her that’s been left behind. The purpose of this scene was to further set up the surprise return of Gellar’s Helen in Danica’s forthcoming dream. According to Cline, the nightmarish sequence itself was not a part of the original script, but it was eventually added during the rehearsal phase of production. Gellar twice posted from the Australia set as if she was only visiting husband Freddie Prinze Jr. for Thanksgiving last year. (Prinze Jr.’s Ray Bronson joined Hewitt’s Julie as two of the new film’s four surviving legacy characters.)
“I did not know that [dream sequence with Sarah Michelle Gellar] was happening. Jenn [Kaytin Robinson] texted me that we were going to do it. And I was absolutely floored. Gobsmacked,” Cline recalls. “She then sent me the sides and was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, ‘I absolutely love them, but whatever. The fact that we’re doing this, write whatever you want. I’m in. I will do whatever you want.’”
As for working with Gellar, Cline remains impressed with how casually she carried herself that day as both an actor and a mother.
“I do believe it was one of the most iconic days of my life, and I just felt like everything conspired for us to have that in the script. It only felt right for Danica to meet and face Helen,” Cline says. “It’s just so special to have that stamp of approval and to be ushered in as a next generation by Sarah Michelle. [She] is, and has always been, a force.”
Below, during a recent spoiler chat with THR, Cline also discusses her character being a source of comic relief and how her Glass Onion director Rian Johnson bolstered that side of her. Then she addresses her name’s inclusion in a couple years’ worth of Spider-Man 4 casting rumors.
***
To recap, you were raised in South Carolina, and that’s where you shoot your show about North Carolina [Outer Banks]. And now you’re starring in a North Carolina-set horror franchise. In the case of I Know What You Did Last Summer, is it a total coincidence?
Yes, it’s a very big coincidence, but I Know What You Did Last Summer was a North Carolina movie shot in Australia. So we’re branching out. We’re getting further and further away.
Outer Banks, Glass Onion and I Know What You Did Last Summer all have summer vibes. Your next two movies also have summer vibes, and there’s a couple past indies of yours that have summer vibes. Does this town think you’re allergic to winter climate?
Yeah, I think so. I do believe there’s something about my vibe that doesn’t give winter. I don’t know if it’s the fake tan or the frosted tips, but the running joke that I can’t get away from boats is so funny.
But you will do snow if it comes your way?
I would love to do snow, but I just don’t trust snow’s continuity.
Growing up, when you weren’t watching reruns of Seinfeld and Friends, did the Last Summer movies make their way onto your radar at all?
No …
The I Know What You Did Last Summer movies never reached you?
Oh, sorry, I thought you said Last Summer movies.
My fault. I was doing that Hollywood thing where nobody says the full title of anything.
(Laughs.) Yes, let’s abbreviate. But I wasn’t allowed to watch horror at all. So the first time I saw the original was probably during a sleepover at a friend’s house whose parents did allow horror movies to be watched. And I probably watched it [through my hands] because I was a big fraidy-cat. But then as I got older, my taste changed, and I began to love horror-thrillers and psychological thrillers.
The original movie is one of my best friend’s favorite movies, and when this audition came around, we rewatched it. And it’s so funny because Outer Banks shares some of the production crew that shot the Last Summer movies. (Cline cracks herself up upon calling back to my franchise abbreviation.) So it’s always been around and a part of the aura.
Madelyn Cline’s Danica Richards in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
Brook Rushton/Sony Pictures
Danica is a very comedic character. She’s quirky and, dare I say it, loopy. I know he’s praised your comedic instincts in the past, but was Rian Johnson the one who gave you the confidence that you could do comedy?
Yes, absolutely. A hundred percent. I remember being on set for GlassOnion and watching Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson and Daniel Craig just lean in and be so free. My first job was also with Danny McBride [on Vice Prinicipals], and I had the same kind of realization there. But to hear that from Rian and to get that stamp of approval, that’s when I realized, “Oh, I think I want to do this.”
I spoke to you ages ago for a very peculiar horror movie called The Giant, and you said something that’s been stuck in my head ever since. You said the most frequent note you received from the director was the phrase “low and slow.” (It makes sense to anyone who’s seen the movie.) Were Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s notes on the complete opposite end of the spectrum?
Yes! Since then, it’s actually been the opposite most of the time.
High and fast?
Yes, high energy and fast pace.
When you first read the script, did you correctly guess the killer reveal?
No, I did not. When you’re reading any kind of whodunit for the first time, you’re immersing yourself in the story and you’re trying to guess, but you’re looking in all the wrong places. That’s exactly how you know a whodunit is written correctly.
So even though you worked with Mr. Whodunit, Rian Johnson, your guessing skills are still …
Terrible! I have the survival instincts of a pickle.
Tariq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Chase Sui Wonders & Madelyn Cline in I Know What You Did Last Summer
Brook Rushton/Sony Pictures
After the accident, Danica drives into a parking garage, and I loved this ice-cold look you give in the rear-view mirror. When you go for late night drives with four of your closest friends, what percentage of the time are you the one driving?
I used to [drive] a hundred percent [of the time], but as I get older, I realize the liability. So it’s probably more like 60-40 now.
When you and your co-star Jonah Hauer-King first encountered each other on set, who was the first person to reference Rocky III?
(Laughs.) I don’t know, but Jonah was in Harry Potter.
Oh, was he?
Yeah!
In case my reference was too vauge, you and Jonah previously made a movie [This is the Night] that’s partially about Rocky III.
Oh fuck! He keeps mentioning that, and I keep forgetting. We had a shoot last week, and he was like, “Madelyn and I shot together before.” (Cline mimics Hauer-King’s British accent.) And I was like, “What are you talking about?” But we’ve had this conversation so many times. I don’t know why I blocked it out of my head. (Laughs.) Maybe it’s because we [filmed] in Staten Island.
[The next eight questions/answers involve major spoilers for 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer.]
This is the part of the interview where we transition into spoiler questions. Firstly, the dream sequence with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen Shivers. How did that go down?
That was not in the original script. I did not know that was happening. I was on the way home from a rehearsal, and Jenn [Kaytin Robinson] texted me that we were going to do it. And I was absolutely floored. Gobsmacked. I could not believe what was happening. She then sent me the sides and was like, “What do you think?” And I said, “I absolutely love them, but whatever. I don’t care. The fact that we’re doing this, write whatever you want. I’m in. I will do whatever you want.”
I do believe it was one of the most iconic days of my life, and I just felt like everything conspired for us to have that in the script. It only felt right for Danica to meet and face Helen, and look in the mirror and see herself. Also, almost every character in this movie gets to have the baton passed to them from an original cast member. It’s just so iconic and so special to have that stamp of approval and to be ushered in as a next generation by Sarah Michelle.
Could you tell if Helen’s return was surreal for Sarah?
No, she was just cracking humor all day. She was ordering lunch, and she was mom the whole day. We were having a great time. The whole family was there, and we shot it on a Saturday. So it kind of felt like an off day, but also an on day. It felt casual and really chill and very familial. But Sarah Michelle is, and has always been, a force.
Madelyn Cline’s Danica Richards in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
Matt Kennedy/Sony Pictures
There’s a graveyard scene where Danica looks at Helen’s photo and relates to her as a fellow Croaker Pageant Queen. Was that also added later to set up the dream sequence?
Yeah, it was added when we did additional photography in L.A. months after our shoot [in Australia].
Most importantly, was your character saved in post-production? Did test audiences revolt over Danica’s death, leading to additional photography?
From what I’ve heard, allegedly, yes.
I was also really frustrated by your character’s death, so I’m glad that was undone.
Thank you. I only got the news that I was coming back about two-and-a-half weeks ago.
What!? Two weeks ago? [Note: This interview was conducted on June 28.]
Yeah, we shot all those very, very end scenes about two weeks ago.
Oh my God, movie magic.
I know, I know. How crazy.
You mentioned that I Know What You Did Last Summer, aka Last Summer, is one of your best friend’s favorite movies. Have you shared these secrets with her?
I haven’t told her. She’s coming to the premiere, and I want to hear her scream.
[The spoiler section for I Know What You Did Last Summer has now concluded.]
Sony is behind I Know What You Did Last Summer. They’re also the proprietors of those Spider-Man movies. Maybe you’ve seen them.
I have!
Your name has been thrown around in various Spider-Man 4 rumors the last couple years. Is there any truth to them? Or did someone take your Spider-Gwen Halloween costume too seriously?
Never say never. Look, I am a huge fan of Spider-Gwen, but I haven’t heard anything.
I always assumed your Spider-Gwen costume was a reference to your True Grit audition.
(Laughs.) I know! I feel like Hailee [Steinfeld] and I have had these parallel lives and loves. But no, I’ve always just loved Spider-Gwen, and that costume was made by a local artist [in South Carolina]. It was the best one I’ve ever seen, so, of course, I had to wear it for Halloween.
You’re filming the final season of Outer Banks right now. Does this feel like the right time to wrap, at least for you?
I think so. We’ve told the story we need to tell, and everybody, of course, loves it. But at the same time, just like our characters, it’s time for us to grow up again in a way. It’s the same thing for the original cast of Last Summer. It’s time for us to pass the baton and usher in whoever the next generation is in the Outer Banks universe.
The Notebook was set and filmed in South Carolina, and if you were to remake that, no one could dispute that you’re now the queen of Carolina fiction.
It’s beautiful down here. The locations are beautiful, but very buggy. On our call sheet yesterday, it, in very, very official language, said: “Mosquito-y location. Dress accordingly.” That’s like every location down here, though. But I’m a huge fan of TheNotebook, and I’m a huge fan of shooting here. My family is still down here, and I have a great, great love for it. So maybe we will.
Madelyn Cline’s Danica Richards in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
Brook Rushton/Sony Pictures
Decades from now, when you’re reminiscing about the Last Summer experience, what day will you likely recall first?
I’ll always recall the first day when I was so incredibly jet lagged. I got off the plane, and Chase [Sui Wonders] and I immediately walked to the Sydney Opera House. And I remember thinking, “Am I still drunk from the plane? Or am I jet lagged? I don’t know which one.” (Laughs.) We then texted Jenn a picture of us outside the opera house, and we were like, “We’re here!” And then everything else was just off to the races.
I promise I won’t put, “Am I still drunk from the plane?” in the headline of this piece.
You can put it in the text below it.
The DEK, as we call it.
(Laughs.) Yeah, the DEK!
*** I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is now playing in movie theaters.
