Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a bone chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One eerie spectral thriller from creator / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an forgotten curse when unfamiliar people become subjects in a dark ritual. Launching October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of staying alive and old world terror that will transform scare flicks this ghoul season. Created by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric film follows five teens who arise isolated in a secluded shack under the hostile rule of Kyra, a troubled woman dominated by a 2,000-year-old sacred-era entity. Arm yourself to be ensnared by a theatrical journey that harmonizes bodily fright with arcane tradition, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a mainstay element in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is turned on its head when the spirits no longer descend from a different plane, but rather inside them. This suggests the deepest part of the victims. The result is a riveting spiritual tug-of-war where the emotions becomes a perpetual struggle between moral forces.


In a bleak backcountry, five youths find themselves imprisoned under the unholy presence and domination of a haunted entity. As the cast becomes unable to resist her curse, exiled and followed by spirits impossible to understand, they are driven to acknowledge their inner demons while the deathwatch harrowingly pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread escalates and alliances dissolve, driving each protagonist to examine their core and the foundation of decision-making itself. The danger grow with every second, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that intertwines supernatural terror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to uncover core terror, an threat rooted in antiquity, working through emotional vulnerability, and wrestling with a darkness that dismantles free will when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra meant channeling something far beyond human desperation. She is unseeing until the control shifts, and that pivot is gut-wrenching because it is so internal.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—allowing viewers anywhere can witness this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has pulled in over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, making the film to viewers around the world.


Join this cinematic ride through nightmares. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to dive into these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For cast commentary, director cuts, and reveals from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror sea change: 2025 U.S. calendar interlaces archetypal-possession themes, underground frights, and series shake-ups

Beginning with survival horror suffused with primordial scripture and onward to installment follow-ups set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is emerging as the most textured plus carefully orchestrated year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors plant stakes across the year through proven series, simultaneously OTT services saturate the fall with new perspectives in concert with old-world menace. In parallel, the artisan tier is carried on the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are calculated, therefore 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal Pictures opens the year with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, inside today’s landscape. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Slated for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Guided by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer tapers, Warner’s slate launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and the memorable motifs return: old school creep, trauma as narrative engine, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The continuation widens the legend, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated mythology. No brand fatigue. 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 Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

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, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Brands: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Emerging Currents

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Projection: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

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 key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new genre cycle: entries, new stories, as well as A loaded Calendar tailored for chills

Dek The emerging terror slate clusters from day one with a January crush, and then runs through summer, and straight through the holiday frame, blending brand heft, original angles, and tactical release strategy. Major distributors and platforms are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that convert horror entries into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has established itself as the sturdy move in annual schedules, a lane that can expand when it resonates and still mitigate the floor when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year re-taught studio brass that modestly budgeted chillers can lead cultural conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum extended into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and premium-leaning entries showed there is demand for varied styles, from ongoing IP entries to fresh IP that export nicely. The takeaway for 2026 is a grid that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with intentional bunching, a spread of marquee IP and new concepts, and a reinvigorated eye on release windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now performs as a fill-in ace on the programming map. Horror can roll out on numerous frames, furnish a clear pitch for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and outpace with viewers that arrive on first-look nights and stick through the second frame if the offering lands. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 pattern indicates confidence in that engine. The slate starts with a busy January run, then uses spring and early summer for balance, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that pushes into the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The map also spotlights the stronger partnership of specialized labels and SVOD players that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and scale up at the strategic time.

A companion trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and classic IP. The companies are not just turning out another continuation. They are shaping as threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a logo package that flags a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that reconnects a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the creative leads behind the most anticipated originals are favoring tactile craft, on-set effects and specific settings. That mix provides the 2026 slate a robust balance of recognition and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount defines the early cadence with two high-profile plays that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the center, setting it up as both a succession moment and a DNA-forward relationship-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance signals a throwback-friendly angle without looping the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Plan for a rollout centered on brand visuals, early character teases, and a staggered trailer plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also relaunches 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will chase wide appeal through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format allowing quick shifts to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is elegant, grief-rooted, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that mutates into a deadly partner. The date slots it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to revisit have a peek at these guys odd public stunts and micro spots that fuses companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as 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 leaves room for a final title to become an headline beat closer to the initial promo. 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 books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His projects are framed as marquee events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that establish tone Young & Cursed without plot reveals the concept. The spooky-season slot offers Universal room to fill 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, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has established that a raw, hands-on effects mix can feel premium on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a viscera-heavy summer horror shot that emphasizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio sets two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is positioning as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both players and novices. The fall slot provides the studio time to build promo materials around canon, and practical creature work, elements that can accelerate PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by historical precision and period speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is favorable.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on known playbooks. The Universal horror run move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a structure that expands both initial urgency and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video pairs third-party pickups with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library curation, using well-timed internal promotions, Halloween hubs, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on overall cume. Netflix stays nimble about first-party entries and festival additions, scheduling horror entries near their drops and staging as events premieres with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of focused cinema runs and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to take on select projects with award winners or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for sustained usage when the genre conversation peaks.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 arc with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is straightforward: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, updated 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. Cineverse has suggested a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, marshalling the project through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday dates to go wider. That positioning has served the company well for arthouse horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception merits. Be ready for 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 tandem, using boutique theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their community.

Brands and originals

By weight, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate brand equity. The risk, as ever, is audience fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to position each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is leading with character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-tinted vision from a emerging director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is familiar enough to spark pre-sales and early previews.

Recent-year comps outline the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that held distribution windows did not obstruct a parallel release from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they shift POV and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to relate entries through character spine and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without pause points.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films telegraph a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights texture and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that leans on mood over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta-horror reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster aesthetics and world-building, which lend themselves to convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel compelling. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that explode in larger rooms.

How the year maps out

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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May tee up summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a pre-October slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a opaque tease strategy and limited advance reveals that trade in concept over detail.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card use.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s intelligent companion unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: tone-first 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 uninhabited island as the power dynamic swivels and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to horror, built on Cronin’s material craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting premise that pipes the unease through a preteen’s unreliable point of view. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A satire sequel that skewers modern genre fads and true-crime manias. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further extends again, with a fresh family bound to returning horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: proceeding. Positioning: this page 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 antique diction and raw menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three nuts-and-bolts forces organize this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic 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 dumps. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage clippable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will cluster across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sound field, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand power where it counts, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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, edit tight trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.