Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

This terrifying mystic fright fest from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an long-buried evil when passersby become tools in a dark ordeal. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish saga of endurance and primeval wickedness that will revolutionize terror storytelling this scare season. Guided by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and moody cinema piece follows five figures who snap to caught in a far-off house under the unfriendly manipulation of Kyra, a female lead claimed by a 2,000-year-old biblical demon. Brace yourself to be drawn in by a screen-based spectacle that weaves together deep-seated panic with mythic lore, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a enduring element in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is subverted when the monsters no longer originate from external sources, but rather deep within. This mirrors the most sinister layer of the cast. The result is a riveting moral showdown where the events becomes a ongoing fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a barren terrain, five souls find themselves contained under the evil dominion and domination of a unknown figure. As the team becomes paralyzed to fight her will, exiled and tormented by powers inconceivable, they are made to face their deepest fears while the seconds unceasingly edges forward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread deepens and links implode, driving each protagonist to reconsider their being and the idea of autonomy itself. The cost mount with every second, delivering a paranormal ride that weaves together supernatural terror with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke deep fear, an curse from ancient eras, feeding on our fears, and testing a power that challenges autonomy when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra demanded embodying something darker than pain. She is uninformed until the possession kicks in, and that pivot is gut-wrenching because it is so deep.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving subscribers across the world can witness this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its intro video, which has garnered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, making the film to lovers of terror across nations.


Witness this haunted fall into madness. Experience *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these fearful discoveries about mankind.


For behind-the-scenes access, making-of footage, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the official digital haunt.





Contemporary horror’s tipping point: 2025 for genre fans U.S. lineup fuses archetypal-possession themes, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside franchise surges

Ranging from survivor-centric dread grounded in biblical myth to legacy revivals alongside surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as horror’s most layered in tandem with deliberate year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Major studios lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, while subscription platforms pack the fall with emerging auteurs in concert with ancient terrors. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the backdraft of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the base, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a headline swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Led by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

By late summer, the Warner Bros. banner delivers the closing chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma in the foreground, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The return delves further into myth, thickens the animatronic pantheon, courting teens and the thirty something base. It lands in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale featuring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

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

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. 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 horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

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 is an astute call. No overinflated mythology. No series drag. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close 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. 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 should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Franchise Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trend Lines

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror reemerges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

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

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The new fear year to come: entries, Originals, and also A busy Calendar calibrated for chills

Dek: The arriving scare season builds from the jump with a January pile-up, after that flows through the summer months, and continuing into the late-year period, blending IP strength, new concepts, and strategic counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are committing to smart costs, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that turn genre titles into broad-appeal conversations.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror sector has established itself as the surest play in release plans, a genre that can lift when it breaks through and still protect the liability when it under-delivers. After 2023 reconfirmed for greenlighters that modestly budgeted chillers can lead mainstream conversation, 2024 extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and surprise hits. The energy carried into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays underscored there is a lane for multiple flavors, from ongoing IP entries to original features that travel well. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a run that shows rare alignment across companies, with obvious clusters, a blend of known properties and new concepts, and a reinvigorated priority on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on PVOD and streaming.

Planners observe the category now operates like a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can open on numerous frames, offer a quick sell for marketing and social clips, and lead with patrons that arrive on Thursday previews and return through the sophomore frame if the release pays off. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm signals faith in that equation. The slate starts with a weighty January stretch, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while clearing room for a fall run that runs into holiday-adjacent weekends and into the next week. The program also underscores the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and streamers that can launch in limited release, grow buzz, and move wide at the optimal moment.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across connected story worlds and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just pushing another installment. They are setting up continuity with a specialness, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a new vibe or a talent selection that anchors a fresh chapter to a original cycle. At the parallel to that, the creative leads behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on material texture, on-set effects and grounded locations. That convergence offers the 2026 slate a strong blend of home base and shock, which is what works overseas.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate moves that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the front, signaling it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a throwback-friendly angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push stacked with brand visuals, first images of characters, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will build wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick pivots to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three clear projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and high-concept: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that shifts into a murderous partner. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s marketing likely to renew eerie street stunts and brief clips that threads love and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the early tease. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are treated as signature events, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a visceral, makeup-driven treatment can feel big on a controlled budget. Expect a grime-caked summer horror rush that spotlights global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio rolls out two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, holding a evergreen supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is selling as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both core fans and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign pieces around canon, and monster aesthetics, elements that can accelerate deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by obsessive craft and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run feed copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a sequence that enhances both launch urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video balances acquired titles with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using editorial spots, holiday hubs, and curated rows to maximize the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival wins, timing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around releases with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a dual-phase of selective theatrical runs and rapid platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has indicated interest to buy select projects with name filmmakers or headline-cast packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 lane with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then working the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for prestige horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception supports. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on fan equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a continental coloration from a hot helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and first-night audiences.

Recent comps contextualize the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that honored streaming windows did get redirected here not preclude a parallel release from paying off when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to thread films through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without extended gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The creative meetings behind this slate foreshadow a continued emphasis on real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores aura and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature work and production design, which are ideal for booth activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

Annual flow

January is heavy. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid headline IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the palette of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a minimalist tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then working 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 carrying holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s virtual companion mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss fight to survive on a rugged island as the hierarchy upends and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward 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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to menace, anchored by Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 home-set haunting scenario that manipulates the terror of a child’s tricky perspective. Rating: to be announced. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-crafted and celebrity-led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that satirizes current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBD. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new clan bound to past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A new start designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. 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 era-faithful speech and primordial menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts this content often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will cluster across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where midrange-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, 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 tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, 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 materiality, acoustics, and cinematography 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.