Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites age-old dread, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 across leading streamers

An haunting mystic thriller from screenwriter / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an archaic terror when passersby become vehicles in a malevolent struggle. Available October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish account of continuance and old world terror that will resculpt fear-driven cinema this spooky time. Directed by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick screenplay follows five figures who find themselves imprisoned in a unreachable shelter under the oppressive command of Kyra, a female presence inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old sacred-era entity. Steel yourself to be drawn in by a motion picture outing that harmonizes deep-seated panic with mythic lore, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a historical concept in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is subverted when the entities no longer form outside the characters, but rather from deep inside. This illustrates the haunting element of every character. The result is a riveting identity crisis where the events becomes a relentless tug-of-war between light and darkness.


In a bleak no-man's-land, five teens find themselves caught under the evil influence and infestation of a secretive person. As the protagonists becomes paralyzed to oppose her rule, exiled and chased by beings beyond comprehension, they are confronted to acknowledge their inner demons while the countdown unceasingly strikes toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear rises and bonds shatter, prompting each individual to challenge their values and the principle of decision-making itself. The consequences magnify with every fleeting time, delivering a chilling narrative that marries unearthly horror with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to awaken primitive panic, an malevolence beyond time, channeling itself through soul-level flaws, and challenging a presence that tests the soul when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was about accessing something more primal than sorrow. She is innocent until the possession kicks in, and that change is haunting because it is so visceral.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering households internationally can engage with this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original promo, which has attracted over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, making the film to a worldwide audience.


Make sure to see this visceral journey into fear. Join *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to uncover these spiritual awakenings about mankind.


For cast commentary, filmmaker commentary, and promotions from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Modern horror’s watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans U.S. rollouts weaves archetypal-possession themes, underground frights, set against Franchise Rumbles

Moving from endurance-driven terror suffused with near-Eastern lore all the way to franchise returns paired with focused festival visions, 2025 is tracking to be horror’s most layered plus tactically planned year in ten years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. top-tier distributors hold down the year with franchise anchors, while streaming platforms crowd the fall with new perspectives alongside primordial unease. On another front, the independent cohort is carried on the momentum from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween holding the peak, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are methodical, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a statement play: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Steered by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

By late summer, Warner’s pipeline releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma centered writing, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It drops in December, buttoning the final window.

Streamer Exclusives: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a tight space body horror vignette with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also rising is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, under Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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

What to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror returns
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. 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. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming chiller lineup: next chapters, standalone ideas, and also A stacked Calendar geared toward jolts

Dek The arriving scare season crams from day one with a January crush, after that extends through peak season, and well into the late-year period, balancing name recognition, new voices, and tactical counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are prioritizing lean spends, theatrical leads, and shareable marketing that shape these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has become the most reliable play in release strategies, a vertical that can surge when it performs and still mitigate the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 proved to studio brass that low-to-mid budget scare machines can lead the zeitgeist, 2024 sustained momentum with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The run pushed into 2025, where revived properties and premium-leaning entries signaled there is an opening for a variety of tones, from franchise continuations to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a grid that presents tight coordination across the industry, with mapped-out bands, a pairing of established brands and original hooks, and a refocused strategy on cinema windows that fuel later windows on premium digital and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the space now performs as a utility player on the calendar. The genre can debut on almost any weekend, deliver a simple premise for ad units and shorts, and punch above weight with patrons that appear on first-look nights and maintain momentum through the sophomore frame if the offering lands. In the wake of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 pattern shows comfort in that logic. The year launches with a crowded January window, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a fall run that extends to Halloween and into post-Halloween. The program also reflects the expanded integration of specialty distributors and platforms that can stage a platform run, stoke social talk, and roll out at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. Major shops are not just releasing another follow-up. They are moving to present lore continuity with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a tonal shift or a casting move that ties a new entry to a foundational era. At the same time, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are embracing material texture, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That combination offers the 2026 slate a strong blend of known notes and freshness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate projects that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the spine, steering it as both a succession moment and a DNA-forward relationship-driven entry. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the artistic posture conveys a throwback-friendly framework without going over the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave centered on brand visuals, intro reveals, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will emphasize. As a counterweight in summer, this one will drive broad awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever leads trend lines that spring.

Universal has three clear entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is crisp, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man installs an virtual partner that escalates into a perilous partner. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with the marketing arm likely to recreate eerie street stunts and short-cut promos that interlaces attachment and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a proper title to become an PR pop closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. His projects are presented as auteur events, with a teaser that holds back and a second wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The spooky-season slot creates space for Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a gritty, practical-first treatment can feel big on a controlled budget. Look for a gore-forward summer horror shot that embraces foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, carrying a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is positioning as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both players and new audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign creative around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can increase format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by historical precision and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is warm.

Digital platform strategies

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a sequence that enhances both initial urgency and sub growth in the later phase. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with global originals and limited runs in theaters when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and featured rows to keep attention on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps flexible about in-house releases and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries toward the drop and turning into events drops with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a curated basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation peaks.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is no-nonsense: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday slot to scale. That positioning has shown results for elevated genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Series vs standalone

By weight, the 2026 slate bends toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The question, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-tinted vision from a fresh helmer. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is comforting enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns illuminate the approach. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that preserved streaming windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they alter lens and expand the canvas. 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 Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, lets marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

Craft and creative trends

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries hint at a continued bias toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that emphasizes tone and tension rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a self-aware reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature execution and sets, which align with booth activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that center disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar cadence

January is jammed. 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 moody 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 serious, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited Check This Out information drops that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card spend.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to 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 bereaved man’s digital partner turns into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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: Shot back-to-back 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss fight to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic inverts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, shaped by Cronin’s physical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting tale that interrogates the dread of a child’s mercurial interpretations. Rating: TBA. Production: wrapped. Positioning: major-studio and marquee-led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A spoof revival that targets today’s horror trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: to be announced. Production: principal photography set 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 bursts, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: principal photography 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: pending. Logline: The Further reopens, with a unlucky family bound to past horrors. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces organize this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, making room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where lean-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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Expect a healthy 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 tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and framing 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the scares sell the seats.