Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing October 2025 on global platforms

One eerie spectral suspense film from creator / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an archaic dread when strangers become tokens in a satanic trial. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing chronicle of overcoming and old world terror that will redefine the horror genre this spooky time. Crafted by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and eerie motion picture follows five figures who find themselves stuck in a unreachable shack under the oppressive command of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a millennia-old ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be seized by a screen-based event that merges primitive horror with ancient myths, arriving on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a well-established pillar in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the spirits no longer originate from a different plane, but rather within themselves. This suggests the deepest facet of the players. The result is a intense internal warfare where the story becomes a ongoing fight between good and evil.


In a isolated no-man's-land, five figures find themselves marooned under the fiendish presence and domination of a obscure figure. As the team becomes vulnerable to withstand her dominion, left alone and tracked by terrors unfathomable, they are pushed to face their inner demons while the clock without pause ticks onward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion intensifies and bonds erode, coercing each soul to reconsider their core and the notion of autonomy itself. The pressure intensify with every instant, delivering a scare-fueled ride that connects ghostly evil with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to tap into instinctual horror, an curse older than civilization itself, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and wrestling with a darkness that questions who we are when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is clueless until the control shifts, and that evolution is deeply unsettling because it is so deep.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for audience access beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing viewers globally can witness this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has been viewed over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Make sure to see this visceral descent into darkness. Experience *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these dark realities about mankind.


For teasers, special features, and announcements directly from production, follow @YACMovie across social media and visit youngandcursed.com.





U.S. horror’s tipping point: 2025 U.S. release slate fuses ancient-possession motifs, indie terrors, stacked beside franchise surges

Ranging from fight-to-live nightmare stories saturated with legendary theology to returning series and incisive indie visions, 2025 is shaping up as the genre’s most multifaceted and strategic year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. Top studios lock in tentpoles using marquee IP, simultaneously platform operators stack the fall with new perspectives as well as old-world menace. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the tailwinds of 2024’s record festival wave. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the other windows are mapped with care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are calculated, therefore 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The top end is active. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s schedule sets the tone with a big gambit: a reimagined Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Led by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. timed for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, the Warner lot drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. While the template is known, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and the tone that worked before is intact: throwback unease, trauma centered writing, plus otherworld rules that chill. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It drops in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Offerings: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, an intimate body horror unraveling featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Next comes Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga fronted by 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. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Authored and directed 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No puffed out backstory. No IP hangover. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Dials to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The coming 2026 fear release year: installments, standalone ideas, alongside A busy Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek The incoming horror slate crowds at the outset with a January crush, before it spreads through summer corridors, and straight through the holiday frame, combining legacy muscle, new concepts, and tactical offsets. Studios and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that turn these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror has turned into the dependable play in annual schedules, a vertical that can surge when it performs and still mitigate the liability when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year re-taught leaders that cost-conscious fright engines can command the national conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and sleeper breakouts. The trend extended into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings demonstrated there is a market for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that perform internationally. The net effect for 2026 is a run that seems notably aligned across the field, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of familiar brands and untested plays, and a renewed priority on box-office windows that drive downstream revenue on premium digital rental and digital services.

Planners observe the space now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the grid. The genre can open on nearly any frame, provide a simple premise for previews and short-form placements, and outperform with audiences that respond on first-look nights and stay strong through the next pass if the release lands. Coming out of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm telegraphs conviction in that equation. The year gets underway with a front-loaded January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a late-year stretch that extends to Halloween and into post-Halloween. The arrangement also reflects the increasing integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and move wide at the proper time.

Another broad trend is brand curation across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just mounting another continuation. They are aiming to frame lineage with a specialness, whether that is a typeface approach that broadcasts a new vibe or a casting move that bridges a next entry to a initial period. At the meanwhile, the visionaries behind the top original plays are prioritizing physical effects work, physical gags and location-forward worlds. That combination delivers the 2026 slate a solid mix of comfort and unexpected turns, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount leads early with two headline releases that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the heart, steering it as both a handoff and a heritage-centered character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance indicates a roots-evoking mode without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. A campaign is expected stacked with signature symbols, character spotlights, and a two-beat trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will drive mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick switches to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is elegant, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man activates an AI companion that grows into a dangerous lover. The date slots it at the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to revisit creepy live activations and short reels that melds devotion and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the debut look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s work are treated as creative events, with a teaser that holds back and a subsequent trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, hands-on effects execution can feel top-tier on a disciplined budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror shot that leans hard into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is marketing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions click to read more pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both devotees and first-timers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can accelerate PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by careful craft and archaic language, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus’s team has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s horror titles land on copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ordering that optimizes both premiere heat and sign-up spikes in the later phase. Prime Video blends licensed films with international acquisitions and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in deep cuts, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and curated rows to maximize the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps options open about originals and festival buys, locking in horror entries near launch and turning into events drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a one-two of precision theatrical plays and rapid platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a situational basis. The platform has signaled readiness to buy select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation swells.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 lane with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is direct: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, refined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a theatrical-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday corridor to widen. That positioning has served the company well for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Keep an eye on 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 parallel, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 tips toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead have a peek here Burn is maximizing a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the team and cast is known enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps clarify the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that held distribution windows did not preclude a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium formats. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by check my blog Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to relate entries through personae and themes and to keep assets alive without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the upcoming entries indicate a continued turn toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that highlights unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in trade spotlights and craft spotlights before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which align with fan-con activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel key. Look for trailers that accent pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that shine in top rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is stacked. 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 somber counterpoint amid headline IP. The month finishes 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 credible, but the tone spread creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late winter and spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late-season stretch leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-October slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s digital partner grows into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 severe boss scramble to survive on a lonely island as the power balance of power tilts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

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 contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s practical effects and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting setup that manipulates the chill of a child’s unreliable senses. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody return that skewers contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new household linked to older hauntings. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A new start designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBA. Production: active. 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 primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why this year, why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces inform this lineup. First, production that stalled or migrated in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strict 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 launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work bite-size scare clips from test screenings, select scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, freeing space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, audio design, and imagery 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing 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, shape lean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.