Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One eerie paranormal suspense story from author / director Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial terror when strangers become puppets in a supernatural ceremony. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish chronicle of resistance and primordial malevolence that will reimagine terror storytelling this autumn. Visualized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and eerie suspense flick follows five unacquainted souls who arise sealed in a isolated hideaway under the menacing power of Kyra, a troubled woman overtaken by a biblical-era ancient fiend. Prepare to be gripped by a visual ride that intertwines bodily fright with mystical narratives, 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 historical fixture in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is twisted when the spirits no longer come externally, but rather deep within. This echoes the most terrifying version of these individuals. The result is a riveting spiritual tug-of-war where the narrative becomes a soul-crushing fight between right and wrong.


In a haunting outland, five youths find themselves cornered under the possessive dominion and curse of a mysterious entity. As the protagonists becomes incapacitated to oppose her power, disconnected and attacked by forces impossible to understand, they are confronted to wrestle with their soulful dreads while the moments harrowingly ticks onward toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread surges and bonds splinter, forcing each soul to reconsider their true nature and the idea of self-determination itself. The intensity escalate with every minute, delivering a nightmarish journey that connects mystical fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to draw upon instinctual horror, an malevolence beyond time, channeling itself through psychological breaks, and challenging a spirit that dismantles free will when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is in denial until the curse activates, and that transformation is bone-chilling because it is so internal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for home viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—offering viewers from coast to coast can enjoy this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first preview, which has racked up over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, exporting the fear to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this cinematic descent into hell. Explore *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to see these chilling revelations about mankind.


For sneak peeks, production news, and news from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official movie site.





The horror genre’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. lineup interlaces old-world possession, festival-born jolts, alongside IP aftershocks

Across survivor-centric dread suffused with biblical myth and onward to canon extensions plus cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is tracking to be the most dimensioned as well as calculated campaign year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio powerhouses stabilize the year by way of signature titles, in tandem streaming platforms load up the fall with discovery plays together with legend-coded dread. On the festival side, independent banners is drafting behind the carry from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Since Halloween is the prized date, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The fall stretch is the proving field, and now, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, accordingly 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige terror resurfaces

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s distribution arm starts the year with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, inside today’s landscape. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. timed for 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 delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner’s pipeline sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retro dread, trauma explicitly handled, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This time, the stakes are raised, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The return delves further into myth, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Originals: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it looks like a certain fall stream.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga starring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It looks like sharp programming. No overstuffed canon. No series drag. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

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

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

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

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

Trends to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Season Ahead: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new spook lineup: brand plays, Originals, paired with A brimming Calendar tailored for nightmares

Dek: The new scare cycle loads in short order with a January wave, subsequently rolls through summer, and well into the holidays, braiding IP strength, fresh ideas, and data-minded calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, big-screen-first runs, and short-form initiatives that turn these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has turned into the steady swing in distribution calendars, a segment that can surge when it hits and still safeguard the drag when it falls short. After the 2023 year reminded top brass that cost-conscious horror vehicles can steer the national conversation, the following year maintained heat with buzzy auteur projects and unexpected risers. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where revivals and critical darlings signaled there is room for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to fresh IP that perform internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a calendar that reads highly synchronized across players, with strategic blocks, a spread of brand names and fresh ideas, and a revived attention on big-screen windows that fuel later windows on premium rental and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the space now works like a flex slot on the calendar. The genre can launch on almost any weekend, create a clear pitch for trailers and platform-native cuts, and overperform with ticket buyers that turn out on first-look nights and stick through the second weekend if the offering lands. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup signals faith in that equation. The slate opens with a stacked January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a fall corridor that carries into spooky season and past the holiday. The gridline also highlights the increasing integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and grow at the right moment.

A companion trend is brand strategy across unified worlds and established properties. Distribution groups are not just releasing another sequel. They are working to present story carry-over with a marquee sheen, whether that is a typeface approach that broadcasts a new vibe or a talent selection that binds a incoming chapter to a heyday. At the concurrently, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring physical effects work, makeup and prosthetics and distinct locales. That convergence offers the 2026 slate a vital pairing of recognition and surprise, which is why the genre exports well.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two marquee projects that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a cross-generational handoff and a rootsy character-forward chapter. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a throwback-friendly framework without looping the last two entries’ sibling arc. Look for a marketing run centered on classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a two-beat trailer plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a summer alternative, this one will seek wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three unique lanes. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is crisp, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man brings home an artificial companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the studio’s marketing likely to iterate on creepy live activations and short-cut promos that hybridizes romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the early tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. His entries are presented as event films, with a mystery-first teaser and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 leads, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a raw, practical-first treatment can feel elevated on a lean spend. Position this as a gore-forward summer horror shock that leans hard into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio lines up two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is marketing 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 directive to serve both franchise faithful and casuals. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build artifacts around setting detail, and creature effects, elements that can boost premium format interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and historical speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. The imprint has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is warm.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Digital strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ladder that maximizes both initial urgency and viewer acquisition in the tail. Prime Video interleaves acquired titles with world buys and short theatrical plays when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using well-timed internal promotions, fright rows, and handpicked rows to keep attention on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival buys, scheduling horror entries closer to drop and elevating as drops releases with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to buy select projects with established auteurs or star packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is simple: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, recalibrated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional cinema play for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, Check This Out then relying on the holiday dates to widen. That positioning has served the company well for auteur horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception supports. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using limited runs to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By weight, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use cultural cachet. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The standing approach is to market each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is bringing forward character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-accented approach from a fresh helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and auteur plays add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the team and cast is familiar enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and first-night audiences.

Three-year comps illuminate the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a simultaneous release test from performing when the brand was powerful. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reframe POV and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds 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 lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to maintain a flow of assets without extended gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The director conversations behind this year’s genre suggest a continued move toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that elevates unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-aware reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature craft and set design, which play well in convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that accent surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that benefit on big speakers.

Release calendar overview

January is jammed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Early-year through spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a bridge slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that trade in concept over detail.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card spend.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: aura-driven 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 prickly boss struggle to survive on a rugged island as the hierarchy upends and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to nightmare, rooted in Cronin’s material craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 household haunting narrative that twists the horror of a child’s inconsistent perspective. Rating: TBD. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-supported and marquee-led paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A genre lampoon that needles hot-button genre motifs and true-crime manias. Rating: TBD. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further extends again, with a young family linked to lingering terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A new start designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward true survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 historical diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or shifted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage social-ready stingers from test screenings, controlled scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, making room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout 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 favor the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, acoustics, and picture 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, Ready To Roar

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is name recognition where it counts, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for 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 sharp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.