Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites mythic darkness, a hair raising shocker, arriving October 2025 across top streaming platforms

An unnerving supernatural suspense story from creator / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an primeval malevolence when unfamiliar people become proxies in a hellish ritual. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing account of resistance and ancient evil that will reconstruct terror storytelling this fall. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and shadowy fearfest follows five lost souls who come to ensnared in a unreachable shack under the oppressive power of Kyra, a young woman inhabited by a biblical-era ancient fiend. Arm yourself to be shaken by a big screen adventure that merges primitive horror with timeless legends, arriving 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 recurring motif in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is twisted when the beings no longer descend from elsewhere, but rather inside their minds. This represents the deepest element of the cast. The result is a edge-of-seat psychological battle where the emotions becomes a unforgiving confrontation between heaven and hell.


In a isolated forest, five individuals find themselves isolated under the malicious dominion and inhabitation of a shadowy character. As the youths becomes defenseless to fight her dominion, severed and hunted by powers beyond reason, they are pushed to endure their core terrors while the hours brutally winds toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion swells and teams implode, pushing each cast member to examine their existence and the foundation of freedom of choice itself. The danger escalate with every beat, delivering a nightmarish journey that harmonizes supernatural terror with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to explore pure dread, an threat that predates humanity, feeding on our weaknesses, and exposing a force that dismantles free will when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra demanded embodying something past sanity. She is uninformed until the possession kicks in, and that pivot is eerie because it is so internal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for public screening beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering viewers around the globe can be part of this spine-tingling premiere.


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


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, extending the thrill to a global viewership.


Do not miss this cinematic voyage through terror. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to dive into these evil-rooted truths about the human condition.


For exclusive trailers, set experiences, and announcements from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror decisive shift: the 2025 season domestic schedule braids together biblical-possession ideas, art-house nightmares, and IP aftershocks

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare drawn from near-Eastern lore and extending to legacy revivals as well as incisive indie visions, 2025 is emerging as the most dimensioned paired with strategic year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. the big studios stabilize the year through proven series, simultaneously streamers front-load the fall with new perspectives as well as legend-coded dread. At the same time, the art-house flank is surfing the echoes of a banner 2024 fest year. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and now, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, and 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal Pictures begins the calendar with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. timed for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Helmed by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner’s slate launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the formula is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: throwback unease, trauma as text, paired with unsettling supernatural order. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It opens in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Tight funds, wide impact

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a sealed box body horror arc fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga led by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, 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.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 canny scheduling. No overstuffed canon. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided 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 the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Dials to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 scare calendar year ahead: installments, original films, paired with A brimming Calendar designed for jolts

Dek: The new horror calendar clusters right away with a January pile-up, after that runs through the mid-year, and deep into the year-end corridor, balancing IP strength, untold stories, and data-minded release strategy. The major players are focusing on efficient budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and shareable marketing that turn these films into culture-wide discussion.

How the genre looks for 2026

Horror has established itself as the steady move in studio slates, a lane that can lift when it hits and still cushion the downside when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year signaled to decision-makers that efficiently budgeted genre plays can dominate mainstream conversation, the following year extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and under-the-radar smashes. The upswing translated to the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and elevated films proved there is an opening for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to filmmaker-driven originals that scale internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a calendar that appears tightly organized across studios, with planned clusters, a balance of household franchises and fresh ideas, and a sharpened commitment on theater exclusivity that increase tail monetization on PVOD and home platforms.

Insiders argue the space now works like a fill-in ace on the distribution slate. The genre can debut on a wide range of weekends, furnish a easy sell for trailers and TikTok spots, and over-index with demo groups that lean in on first-look nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the entry connects. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan reflects confidence in that logic. The year starts with a loaded January window, then turns to spring and early summer for counterweight, while making space for a fall run that flows toward the Halloween frame and past the holiday. The calendar also features the expanded integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and move wide at the proper time.

Another broad trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just mounting another next film. They are moving to present lore continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title presentation that conveys a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that connects a new installment to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the auteurs behind the high-profile originals are prioritizing tactile craft, practical gags and distinct locales. That fusion produces 2026 a confident blend of recognition and invention, which is what works overseas.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount fires first with two headline titles that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, angling it as both a baton pass and a classic-mode character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a memory-charged angle without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Count on a promo wave stacked with brand visuals, character-first teases, and a rollout cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will pursue four-quadrant chatter through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick pivots to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three clear entries. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is tight, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that shifts into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s promo team likely to mirror eerie street stunts and snackable content that interlaces attachment and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a title reveal to become an marketing beat closer to the first look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s work are set up as signature events, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween runway gives the studio room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has established that a gritty, physical-effects centered execution can feel big on a lean spend. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror shot that embraces offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio sets two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a proven supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is calling 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 sharper mandate to serve both longtime followers and fresh viewers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build marketing units around lore, and monster design, elements that can boost premium booking interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in obsessive craft and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a pacing that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about own-slate titles and festival additions, finalizing horror entries on shorter runways and turning into events drops with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of precision theatrical plays and fast windowing that drives paid trials from buzz. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown appetite to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building 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 direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday dates to go wider. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-first horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays great post to read 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 growth.

Legacy titles versus originals

By tilt, the 2026 slate tips toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use franchise value. The question, as ever, is fatigue. The standing approach is to present each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is spotlighting character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not preclude a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot consecutively, builds a path for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep assets alive without lulls.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind the year’s horror forecast a continued move toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead features and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that keeps plot minimal, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which lend themselves to convention floor stunts and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that elevate razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that play in premium auditoriums.

From winter to holidays

January is packed. Universal’s 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th great post to read Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tonal variety makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that stress concept over spoilers.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 severe boss push to survive on a isolated island as the chain of command swivels and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s physical craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 domestic haunting piece that refracts terror through a child’s wavering subjective view. Rating: pending. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A spoof revival that riffs on in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: shoot planned 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 surges, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new clan anchored to returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on classic survival-horror tone over action spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: pending. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 period language and elemental menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 lands now

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that stalled or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and compressed 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will jostle across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 stealth-hit search 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, soundscape, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand equity where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, hold the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.