Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a nerve shredding chiller, streaming Oct 2025 on major streaming services

One hair-raising supernatural terror film from literary architect / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an archaic fear when strangers become conduits in a dark conflict. Releasing October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching episode of perseverance and old world terror that will resculpt horror this scare season. Created by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and shadowy feature follows five unacquainted souls who find themselves sealed in a wooded lodge under the unfriendly rule of Kyra, a tormented girl claimed by a antiquated biblical force. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a visual ride that integrates primitive horror with mystical narratives, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a legendary fixture in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is inverted when the demons no longer manifest from elsewhere, but rather within themselves. This suggests the most primal version of the group. The result is a psychologically brutal spiritual tug-of-war where the story becomes a soul-crushing confrontation between virtue and vice.


In a forsaken wild, five figures find themselves sealed under the malicious force and domination of a secretive woman. As the group becomes helpless to resist her manipulation, severed and chased by evils inconceivable, they are cornered to reckon with their darkest emotions while the clock unforgivingly strikes toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread grows and connections collapse, urging each individual to doubt their existence and the idea of conscious will itself. The threat intensify with every fleeting time, delivering a fear-soaked story that merges spiritual fright with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to uncover basic terror, an presence older than civilization itself, filtering through mental cracks, and confronting a presence that tests the soul when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra demanded embodying something beyond human emotion. She is unseeing until the control shifts, and that change is bone-chilling because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be released for public screening beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—allowing users anywhere can enjoy this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has received over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, taking the terror to scare fans abroad.


Experience this cinematic ride through nightmares. Join *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to explore these terrifying truths about the mind.


For featurettes, extra content, and alerts straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across entertainment pages and visit our horror hub.





Contemporary horror’s inflection point: the year 2025 U.S. calendar fuses Mythic Possession, underground frights, and series shake-ups

Moving from grit-forward survival fare inspired by biblical myth as well as legacy revivals alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the most complex together with calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

Call it full, but it is also focused. leading studios stabilize the year with established lines, at the same time OTT services stack the fall with debut heat alongside ancient terrors. Across the art-house lane, the art-house flank is carried on the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: The Return of Prestige Fear

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a reconceived Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. targeting 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.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer wanes, Warner’s pipeline bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re teams, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retrograde shiver, trauma centered writing, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This time the stakes climb, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The return delves further into myth, broadens the animatronic terror cast, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streamer Exclusives: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatrical skews franchise first, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Next comes Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overinflated mythology. No franchise baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and 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, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Key Trends

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

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 terror slate: entries, new stories, alongside A jammed Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The current genre calendar packs up front with a January crush, after that extends through summer, and straight through the festive period, balancing series momentum, inventive spins, and tactical alternatives. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that position these pictures into water-cooler talk.

How the genre looks for 2026

This space has emerged as the steady swing in studio lineups, a pillar that can lift when it catches and still hedge the downside when it fails to connect. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that cost-conscious genre plays can galvanize audience talk, 2024 extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and surprise hits. The upswing rolled into 2025, where revived properties and elevated films signaled there is room for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to original one-offs that translate worldwide. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a calendar that reads highly synchronized across the market, with clear date clusters, a mix of known properties and novel angles, and a re-energized commitment on release windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now behaves like a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can kick off on a wide range of weekends, offer a clean hook for ad units and shorts, and outperform with demo groups that come out on preview nights and stay strong through the next weekend if the feature connects. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 mapping indicates certainty in that model. The calendar gets underway with a thick January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a September to October window that flows toward Halloween and afterwards. The grid also features the greater integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and grow at the sweet spot.

A notable top-line trend is brand strategy across shared IP webs and storied titles. The players are not just turning out another sequel. They are shaping as brand continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a brandmark that conveys a fresh attitude or a casting choice that threads a next film to a heyday. At the very same time, the creative leads behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating practical craft, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That alloy offers 2026 a strong blend of home base and unexpected turns, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount plants an early flag with two prominent pushes that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the focus, setting it up as both a succession moment and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a fan-service aware approach without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected fueled by heritage visuals, initial cast looks, and a tease cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will spotlight. As a counterweight in summer, this one will generate broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format supporting quick updates to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is simple, somber, and logline-clear: a grieving man onboards an artificial companion that unfolds into a lethal partner. The date sets it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s promo team likely to echo uncanny live moments and short-form creative that threads devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an earned moment closer to the first look. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are positioned as signature events, with a concept-forward tease and a second trailer wave that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has established that a flesh-and-blood, hands-on effects strategy can feel high-value on a lean spend. Frame it as a hard-R summer horror blast that maximizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio sets two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both fans and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can increase large-format demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror defined by rigorous craft and period language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The company has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is warm.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. The studio’s horror films feed copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that expands both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video balances licensed content with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries tight to release and framing as events launches with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a dual-phase of selective theatrical runs and swift platform pivots that translates talk to trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation builds.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, updated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to go wider. That positioning has served the company well for arthouse horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception drives. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited runs to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is spotlighting character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the cast-creatives package is anchored enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the plan. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not block a day-date move from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror surged in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they angle differently and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which Source presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot in tandem, allows marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep assets alive without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind the 2026 slate point to a continued lean toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that underscores tone and tension rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in deep-dive features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and generates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster work and world-building, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is busy. 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 ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the menu of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, Check This Out The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

August into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited disclosures that favor idea over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can play the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card use.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s artificial companion escalates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: aura-driven 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 abrasive boss battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power turns and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, anchored by Cronin’s hands-on craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting scenario that manipulates the panic of a child’s wobbly interpretations. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: major-studio and A-list fronted supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 breaks out, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family bound to older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on classic survival-horror tone over action spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 historical diction and elemental dread. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three execution-level forces define this lineup. First, production that decelerated or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on repeatable beats from test screenings, select scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Calendar math also matters. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can control a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where value-budget 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, 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 cadence and diversity. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, tight deployments, 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 camera work 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 Is Well Positioned

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.