Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on leading streamers

This bone-chilling spiritual horror tale from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an forgotten dread when foreigners become conduits in a hellish ceremony. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving account of living through and archaic horror that will redefine genre cinema this cool-weather season. Helmed by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and gothic motion picture follows five individuals who awaken confined in a far-off lodge under the ominous influence of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Be prepared to be captivated by a motion picture venture that weaves together deep-seated panic with timeless legends, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a classic pillar in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is radically shifted when the spirits no longer emerge from external sources, but rather from their psyche. This symbolizes the most terrifying facet of the players. The result is a bone-chilling identity crisis where the drama becomes a ongoing fight between divinity and wickedness.


In a unforgiving outland, five individuals find themselves isolated under the evil force and spiritual invasion of a obscure character. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to fight her manipulation, severed and targeted by creatures indescribable, they are forced to deal with their raw vulnerabilities while the timeline brutally winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion deepens and bonds collapse, compelling each soul to reflect on their being and the principle of independent thought itself. The consequences magnify with every second, delivering a terror ride that marries paranormal dread with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to extract pure dread, an darkness before modern man, influencing fragile psyche, and challenging a curse that peels away humanity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is innocent until the possession kicks in, and that metamorphosis is harrowing because it is so emotional.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering audiences worldwide can witness this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has racked up over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, bringing the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Be sure to catch this unforgettable voyage through terror. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to dive into these unholy truths about human nature.


For behind-the-scenes access, filmmaker commentary, and alerts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit our film’s homepage.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 across markets U.S. release slate braids together Mythic Possession, independent shockers, paired with tentpole growls

From last-stand terror grounded in old testament echoes and stretching into IP renewals together with focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become the most variegated together with carefully orchestrated year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Top studios lay down anchors by way of signature titles, concurrently platform operators front-load the fall with discovery plays and mythic dread. In the indie lane, festival-forward creators is propelled by the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, and now, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are intentional, hence 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige fear returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm lights the fuse with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Directed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, the WB camp unveils the final movement from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma as theme, plus otherworld rules that chill. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The continuation widens the legend, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It drops in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold case horror anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a close quarters body horror study including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in 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 is a clever angle. No bloated mythology. No brand fatigue. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. 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, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Signals and Trends

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Season Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The oncoming Horror year to come: continuations, fresh concepts, alongside A jammed Calendar optimized for nightmares

Dek: The fresh terror slate crowds in short order with a January wave, subsequently unfolds through the warm months, and continuing into the late-year period, fusing name recognition, new concepts, and calculated offsets. Major distributors and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that turn the slate’s entries into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror has solidified as the bankable option in programming grids, a pillar that can scale when it catches and still safeguard the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for top brass that low-to-mid budget entries can shape the national conversation, the following year held pace with filmmaker-forward plays and sleeper breakouts. The energy fed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings proved there is appetite for a variety of tones, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that play globally. The net effect for 2026 is a grid that presents tight coordination across studios, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of recognizable IP and untested plays, and a sharpened stance on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on paid VOD and SVOD.

Distribution heads claim the space now functions as a flex slot on the programming map. Horror can kick off on almost any weekend, furnish a grabby hook for creative and platform-native cuts, and exceed norms with moviegoers that appear on Thursday nights and return through the week two if the offering works. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 layout signals belief in that setup. The calendar begins with a weighty January band, then uses spring and early summer for counterweight, while making space for a fall cadence that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The arrangement also shows the deeper integration of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, fuel WOM, and roll out at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is legacy care across ongoing universes and long-running brands. Studios are not just rolling another chapter. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that connects a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating hands-on technique, real effects and place-driven backdrops. That alloy provides the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and discovery, which is how the films export.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline plays that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the lead, positioning the film as both a handoff and a origin-leaning character-forward chapter. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the story approach telegraphs a fan-service aware treatment without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push centered on recognizable motifs, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

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 back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counter-slot, this one will drive wide buzz through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format inviting quick reframes to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is tight, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an AI companion that grows into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that threads devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules 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 official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title drop to become an earned moment closer to the first look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, click site a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s releases are branded as creative events, with a minimalist tease and a later creative that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend allows Universal to lead 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, prosthetic-heavy mix can feel big on a lean spend. Look for a red-band summer horror jolt that embraces international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio sets two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, maintaining a dependable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has recalibrated 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 restarts in what the studio is describing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build artifacts around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can increase format premiums and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror driven by historical precision and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s releases feed copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a sequence that fortifies both premiere heat and trial spikes in the post-theatrical. Prime Video continues to mix licensed content with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library pulls, using prominent placements, October hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on the 2026 genre total. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival snaps, slotting horror entries toward the drop and framing as events launches with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of targeted theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 pipeline with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clean: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, recalibrated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late-season weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to broaden. That positioning has delivered for elevated genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using mini theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By count, 2026 tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap household recognition. The challenge, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to brand each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is centering core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is promising a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a Francophone tone from a fresh helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the packaging is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

The last three-year set clarify the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that held distribution windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from winning when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror popped in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently 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 back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to relate entries through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The director conversations behind this slate telegraph a continued bias toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that highlights grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel key. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that explode in larger rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is full. 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 brooding contrast amid bigger brand plays. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the variety of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

February through May load in summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a late-September window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited advance reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s core. 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 heartbroken man’s intelligent companion unfolds into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: mood-led 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 tough boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the pecking order reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to menace, founded on Cronin’s material craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting chiller that twists the panic of a child’s shaky impressions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that skewers current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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: TBA. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a unlucky family lashed to returning horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A new start designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: ongoing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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: TBD. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that paused or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Calendar math also matters. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 disciplined-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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, 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 buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to 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 deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sonics, 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 Is Well Positioned

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand heft where it matters, filmmaker 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.