Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a pulse pounding shocker, debuting Oct 2025 on top streamers

An bone-chilling occult terror film from screenwriter / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primordial fear when newcomers become vehicles in a hellish ceremony. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing depiction of perseverance and old world terror that will reconstruct the horror genre this autumn. Visualized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and cinematic fearfest follows five people who arise ensnared in a hidden cabin under the unfriendly command of Kyra, a female presence inhabited by a time-worn Old Testament spirit. Brace yourself to be shaken by a immersive event that merges bone-deep fear with folklore, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a classic concept in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is turned on its head when the forces no longer develop externally, but rather from deep inside. This echoes the most sinister side of the victims. The result is a relentless emotional conflict where the story becomes a intense conflict between right and wrong.


In a bleak terrain, five characters find themselves sealed under the possessive grip and curse of a enigmatic person. As the group becomes vulnerable to escape her will, left alone and preyed upon by terrors indescribable, they are driven to reckon with their greatest panics while the clock without pity draws closer toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and ties break, prompting each member to examine their essence and the foundation of freedom of choice itself. The cost accelerate with every heartbeat, delivering a horror experience that combines otherworldly panic with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to awaken elemental fright, an curse that existed before mankind, manifesting in our fears, and challenging a force that peels away humanity when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra required summoning something beneath mortal despair. She is in denial until the curse activates, and that pivot is haunting because it is so private.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering watchers from coast to coast can face this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first trailer, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, bringing the film to international horror buffs.


Don’t miss this heart-stopping fall into madness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to witness these terrifying truths about mankind.


For director insights, behind-the-scenes content, and news from behind the lens, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across fan hubs and visit the official website.





The horror genre’s decisive shift: 2025 across markets domestic schedule weaves archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, paired with series shake-ups

Running from grit-forward survival fare grounded in biblical myth and extending to franchise returns in concert with focused festival visions, 2025 is emerging as horror’s most layered and precision-timed year in a decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. major banners plant stakes across the year with familiar IP, even as premium streamers flood the fall with unboxed visions as well as old-world menace. On the independent axis, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the carry from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween holding the peak, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, yet in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are precise, and 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium dread reemerges

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline opens the year with a marquee bet: a contemporary Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Booked into mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures drops the final chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retrograde shiver, trauma as narrative engine, along with eerie supernatural rules. This run ups the stakes, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, bridging teens and legacy players. It posts in December, holding the cold season’s end.

SVOD Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone 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. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No puffed out backstory. No IP hangover. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in 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, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning 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
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

What’s Next: Fall pileup, winter curveball

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 scare calendar year ahead: continuations, fresh concepts, plus A Crowded Calendar Built For screams

Dek: The fresh terror cycle loads in short order with a January glut, subsequently rolls through midyear, and continuing into the year-end corridor, fusing marquee clout, original angles, and smart counterweight. The major players are committing to responsible budgets, big-screen-first runs, and viral-minded pushes that pivot these films into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

The genre has emerged as the sturdy tool in release strategies, a lane that can scale when it lands and still insulate the liability when it misses. After 2023 reconfirmed for buyers that low-to-mid budget genre plays can command pop culture, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The momentum translated to 2025, where revived properties and premium-leaning entries demonstrated there is a market for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that perform internationally. The result for the 2026 slate is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across studios, with strategic blocks, a blend of household franchises and original hooks, and a reinvigorated strategy on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on premium digital rental and platforms.

Schedulers say the category now behaves like a plug-and-play option on the slate. Horror can launch on virtually any date, offer a clean hook for marketing and social clips, and overperform with audiences that show up on opening previews and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the film delivers. After a production delay era, the 2026 configuration exhibits trust in that playbook. The slate commences with a busy January window, then taps spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while saving space for a October build that pushes into Halloween and into post-Halloween. The program also underscores the ongoing integration of arthouse labels and streamers that can nurture a platform play, ignite recommendations, and expand at the strategic time.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are seeking to position lineage with a premium feel, whether that is a brandmark that conveys a recalibrated tone or a lead change that reconnects a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the helmers behind the top original plays are celebrating material texture, practical effects and site-specific worlds. That combination delivers 2026 a confident blend of comfort and freshness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount sets the tone early with two headline releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, signaling it as both a passing of the torch and a heritage-centered character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a memory-charged bent without repeating the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. A campaign is expected centered on iconic art, first images of characters, weblink and a rollout cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is cinema-first 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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will stress. As a summer relief option, this one will seek mass reach through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format making room for quick redirects to whatever rules horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate strategies. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is efficient, heartbroken, and high-concept: a grieving man onboards an artificial companion that escalates into a dangerous lover. The date nudges it to the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s team likely to bring back strange in-person beats and bite-size content that melds intimacy and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title drop to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as filmmaker events, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date allows Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work 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 leads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has proven that a visceral, hands-on effects treatment can feel high-value on a controlled budget. Expect a red-band summer horror surge that pushes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio places two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, holding a bankable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is billing as a new foundation 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 explicit mandate to serve both players and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build materials around narrative world, and creature effects, elements that can fuel deluxe auditorium demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror defined by immersive craft and linguistic texture, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Digital strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. The studio’s horror films land on copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a cadence that maximizes both first-week urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with world buys and limited runs in theaters when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival snaps, dating horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, modernized for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to widen. That positioning has been successful for craft-driven horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival my review here pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception allows. Expect 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 as partners, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

Balance of brands and originals

By skew, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on household recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is viewer burnout. The preferred tactic is to sell each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is bringing forward character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a hot helmer. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and talent-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the packaging is known enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not preclude a day-date try from hitting when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror over-performed in premium formats. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they change perspective 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 two-film strategy, with chapters filmed consecutively, provides the means for marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The filmmaking conversations behind these films point to a continued preference for physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that spotlights aura and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft features before rolling out a tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has resonated 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 connects worldwide in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for fan-con activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is loaded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the variety of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth holds.

Late winter and spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps 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 jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a late-September window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a peekaboo tease plan and limited disclosures that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card burn.

Title briefs within the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s algorithmic partner unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to chill, founded on Cronin’s practical effects and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting premise that twists the dread of a child’s fragile POV. Rating: TBA. 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 involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true crime preoccupations. 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 surges, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family bound to older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on classic survival-horror tone over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: continuing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 time-true diction and elemental dread. Rating: TBD. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-sequenced in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more measured 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 drops. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest clippable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will coexist across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where modest-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 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows 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 two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, acoustics, 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 shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand heft where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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, cut crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the screams sell the seats.