Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primeval horror, a pulse pounding shocker, streaming October 2025 across major platforms

A bone-chilling metaphysical suspense story from cinematographer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an long-buried entity when passersby become puppets in a hellish ceremony. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching journey of continuance and primordial malevolence that will reconstruct the horror genre this ghoul season. Produced by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and tone-heavy cinema piece follows five strangers who come to stuck in a wooded dwelling under the aggressive influence of Kyra, a troubled woman occupied by a ancient sacrosanct terror. Brace yourself to be immersed by a theatrical ride that unites instinctive fear with arcane tradition, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a classic foundation in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is reimagined when the entities no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather within themselves. This embodies the deepest side of each of them. The result is a emotionally raw inner struggle where the events becomes a constant battle between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken backcountry, five souls find themselves caught under the malicious rule and spiritual invasion of a mysterious female presence. As the cast becomes incapable to oppose her will, left alone and chased by entities indescribable, they are obligated to battle their worst nightmares while the timeline brutally ticks toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear rises and links disintegrate, forcing each individual to evaluate their existence and the principle of autonomy itself. The threat intensify with every second, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that connects occult fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to channel primitive panic, an evil before modern man, manipulating soul-level flaws, and confronting a curse that questions who we are when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra required summoning something far beyond human desperation. She is unseeing until the invasion happens, and that transition is soul-crushing because it is so visceral.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving watchers no matter where they are can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its release of trailer #1, which has racked up over massive response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, delivering the story to a global viewership.


Join this cinematic trip into the unknown. Enter *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to dive into these spiritual awakenings about the psyche.


For exclusive trailers, filmmaker commentary, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





American horror’s watershed moment: 2025 across markets U.S. release slate melds biblical-possession ideas, Indie Shockers, plus series shake-ups

Across survivor-centric dread steeped in primordial scripture as well as installment follow-ups together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the most variegated in tandem with blueprinted year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. leading studios hold down the year with established lines, in tandem platform operators front-load the fall with new perspectives paired with ancient terrors. On the independent axis, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the kinetic energy of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are disciplined, which means 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. targeting mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer tapers, Warner’s slate delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even with a familiar chassis, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re teams, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: period tinged dread, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. This time, the stakes are raised, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Plays: Modest spend, serious shock

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative led by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by 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 menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No sequel clutter. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes 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 stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forward View: Fall saturation and a winter joker

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The upcoming fear cycle: next chapters, fresh concepts, paired with A jammed Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek: The incoming horror cycle loads in short order with a January traffic jam, before it extends through peak season, and pushing into the late-year period, fusing IP strength, fresh ideas, and savvy counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are committing to mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and influencer-ready assets that transform these offerings into all-audience topics.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has shown itself to be the predictable release in studio lineups, a genre that can expand when it connects and still insulate the floor when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can command the discourse, the following year carried the beat with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The energy carried into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers underscored there is demand for several lanes, from brand follow-ups to director-led originals that scale internationally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across the field, with obvious clusters, a harmony of legacy names and new packages, and a sharpened attention on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and subscription services.

Schedulers say the category now serves as a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can open on open real estate, create a easy sell for creative and shorts, and outpace with ticket buyers that turn out on opening previews and sustain through the second frame if the picture pays off. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 rhythm exhibits conviction in that engine. The slate opens with a front-loaded January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while making space for a autumn push that connects to late October and into the next week. The program also underscores the continuing integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and widen at the right moment.

A second macro trend is brand management across shared universes and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just pushing another chapter. They are aiming to frame lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that announces a tonal shift or a talent selection that connects a latest entry to a first wave. At the same time, the helmers behind the most watched originals are embracing in-camera technique, physical gags and specific settings. That mix provides the 2026 slate a robust balance of home base and surprise, which is what works overseas.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount leads early with two spotlight plays that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the lead, setting it up as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character-forward chapter. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach telegraphs a nostalgia-forward approach without looping the last two entries’ sisters thread. A campaign is expected driven by recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will double down on. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will build four-quadrant chatter through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format making room for quick adjustments to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that escalates into a harmful mate. The date puts it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to replay uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that hybridizes devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood 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 reserves space for a official title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His entries are set up as event films, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor opens a lane to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, hands-on effects method can feel elevated on a efficient spend. Expect a grime-caked summer horror charge that emphasizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is billing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around mythos, and creature design, elements that can boost large-format demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror defined by careful craft and dialect, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is robust.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s genre slate feed copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that elevates both premiere heat and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video pairs catalogue additions with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library pulls, using well-timed internal promotions, horror hubs, and staff picks to sustain interest on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival snaps, dating horror entries closer to drop and making event-like drops with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a paired of tailored theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has been willing to acquire select projects with prestige directors or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, recalibrated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a theatrical rollout for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to broaden. That positioning has helped for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception allows. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using small theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, the 2026 slate favors the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap franchise value. The watch-out, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to sell each entry as a new angle. Paramount is centering character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a European tilt from a new voice. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and director-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the cast-creatives package is known enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and advance-audience nights.

The last three-year set help explain the approach. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that honored streaming windows did not foreclose a hybrid test from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot consecutively, enables marketing to interlace chapters through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets in-market without doldrums.

How the films are being made

The creative meetings behind the 2026 slate forecast a continued emphasis on in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that underscores aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a teaser that withholds plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta refresh that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster realization and design, which are ideal for convention floor stunts and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the 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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid heavier IP. The month winds down 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 legit, but the spread of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth persists.

February through May build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a bridge slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can win the holiday when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season movies and holiday card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s essence. 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 AI companion shifts into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 difficult boss fight to survive on a lonely island as the hierarchy upends and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

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 chill, anchored by Cronin’s in-camera craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting premise that manipulates the chill of a child’s wobbly interpretations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-built and name-above-title occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satire sequel that lampoons hot-button genre motifs and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 flares, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further widens again, with a unlucky family anchored to lingering terrors. Rating: pending. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-core horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to have a peek here be announced. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 elemental menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that downshifted or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and condensed timelines. 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify meme-ready beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 lower and mid-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 exploit those windows. 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. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month see here to month, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to 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 grain, audio design, and visuals 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 Shapes Up Strong

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, original vision where it matters, 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.