Ancient Malevolence Awakens in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling chiller, arriving Oct 2025 across leading streamers

This chilling spectral suspense film from creator / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an archaic entity when unrelated individuals become puppets in a satanic conflict. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing depiction of staying alive and primordial malevolence that will transform horror this cool-weather season. Guided by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and cinematic screenplay follows five young adults who snap to imprisoned in a unreachable dwelling under the oppressive grip of Kyra, a cursed figure dominated by a time-worn biblical demon. Arm yourself to be hooked by a motion picture outing that merges gut-punch terror with ancestral stories, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a historical trope in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reversed when the fiends no longer develop externally, but rather from their core. This embodies the deepest corner of the cast. The result is a relentless psychological battle where the conflict becomes a unforgiving confrontation between good and evil.


In a abandoned forest, five individuals find themselves isolated under the malevolent rule and domination of a unknown female presence. As the youths becomes helpless to fight her command, abandoned and chased by powers impossible to understand, they are driven to acknowledge their core terrors while the hours without pause pushes forward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension amplifies and partnerships splinter, urging each individual to reconsider their personhood and the idea of personal agency itself. The risk rise with every second, delivering a nightmarish journey that intertwines otherworldly suspense with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to uncover raw dread, an spirit older than civilization itself, feeding on our weaknesses, and confronting a spirit that tests the soul when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something outside normal anguish. She is ignorant until the possession kicks in, and that pivot is deeply unsettling because it is so private.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing users internationally can witness this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its first preview, which has seen over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, extending the thrill to a worldwide audience.


Experience this visceral trip into the unknown. Experience *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to survive these spiritual awakenings about the psyche.


For exclusive trailers, filmmaker commentary, and news from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across social media and visit our film’s homepage.





Current horror’s inflection point: 2025 in focus U.S. lineup interlaces biblical-possession ideas, underground frights, set against IP aftershocks

Kicking off with endurance-driven terror inspired by ancient scripture as well as franchise returns plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered combined with strategic year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. Top studios plant stakes across the year via recognizable brands, in parallel streaming platforms load up the fall with new voices paired with primordial unease. At the same time, indie storytellers is fueled by the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, thus 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a big gambit: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. dated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, the WB camp releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 follows. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma explicitly handled, with ghostly inner logic. This run ups the stakes, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It bows in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streamer Exclusives: No Budget, No Problem

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Playing chamber scale is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story starring Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It reads as sharp positioning. No overinflated mythology. No franchise baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Heritage Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

What to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

What’s Next: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The oncoming spook season: entries, standalone ideas, and also A Crowded Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The new scare year builds from the jump with a January logjam, from there extends through the mid-year, and continuing into the holidays, braiding franchise firepower, novel approaches, and tactical counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are committing to mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that shape genre titles into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has turned into the steady lever in studio slates, a genre that can scale when it resonates and still safeguard the drag when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year signaled to executives that low-to-mid budget genre plays can own the discourse, the following year extended the rally with auteur-driven buzzy films and stealth successes. The tailwind carried into the 2025 frame, where reboots and elevated films underscored there is capacity for multiple flavors, from returning installments to original one-offs that travel well. The sum for the 2026 slate is a roster that is strikingly coherent across companies, with mapped-out bands, a combination of familiar brands and untested plays, and a revived emphasis on box-office windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and digital services.

Planners observe the category now works like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can open on nearly any frame, offer a simple premise for spots and social clips, and over-index with ticket buyers that come out on early shows and keep coming through the second weekend if the entry lands. Coming out of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm indicates conviction in that equation. The year gets underway with a weighty January run, then turns to spring and early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a fall corridor that extends to the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The map also highlights the stronger partnership of specialized labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and roll out at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is brand management across linked properties and veteran brands. The studios are not just greenlighting another chapter. They are moving to present ongoing narrative with a heightened moment, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a new vibe or a lead change that links a incoming chapter to a early run. At the very same time, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and concrete locations. That pairing offers the 2026 slate a smart balance of assurance and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount leads early with two centerpiece entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the front, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a return-to-roots character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach telegraphs a nostalgia-forward mode without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run driven by iconic art, early character teases, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick pivots to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is clean, tragic, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an machine companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date sets it at the front of a heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to replay uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that melds romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an event moment closer to the early tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele titles are set up as event films, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, in-camera leaning approach can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Look for a hard-R summer horror blast that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and practical creature work, elements that can accelerate premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and archaic language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles flow to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that amplifies both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide entries and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival pickups, locking in horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a one-two of selective theatrical runs and speedy platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for retention when the genre conversation peaks.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is simple: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the December frame to widen. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to brand each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is spotlighting character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French sensibility from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the deal build is comforting enough to spark pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps contextualize the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not foreclose a simultaneous release test from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reorient and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot back-to-back, permits marketing to cross-link entries through character and theme and to maintain a flow of assets without hiatuses.

Craft and creative trends

The craft conversations behind this slate hint at a continued shift toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that spotlights aura and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead features and technical spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at red-band excess, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and creates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-aware reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster aesthetics and world-building, which match well with booth activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that sing on PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is stacked. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the menu of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth spreads.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, great post to read New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a early fall window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a peekaboo tease plan and limited disclosures that trade in concept over detail.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s synthetic partner turns into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss scramble to survive on a desolate island as the power balance swivels and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to dread, driven by Cronin’s hands-on craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting piece that leverages the fright of a child’s uncertain POV. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A parody return that teases in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime buzz. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new family linked to past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-driven horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: forthcoming. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and primordial menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or reshuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, select scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides this content the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundscape, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is franchise muscle where it helps, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.