Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primordial evil, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 on premium platforms

This frightening metaphysical horror tale from scriptwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an age-old evil when passersby become subjects in a satanic struggle. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing chronicle of staying alive and forgotten curse that will resculpt fear-driven cinema this ghoul season. Crafted by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and gothic fearfest follows five strangers who emerge ensnared in a remote house under the unfriendly will of Kyra, a cursed figure haunted by a two-thousand-year-old scriptural evil. Ready yourself to be ensnared by a visual venture that unites intense horror with ancestral stories, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a long-standing motif in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is turned on its head when the forces no longer develop externally, but rather from deep inside. This represents the haunting version of the players. The result is a emotionally raw mental war where the conflict becomes a ongoing struggle between divinity and wickedness.


In a unforgiving natural abyss, five teens find themselves imprisoned under the possessive presence and control of a unidentified being. As the companions becomes paralyzed to combat her will, left alone and stalked by spirits mind-shattering, they are obligated to stand before their inner demons while the moments harrowingly runs out toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear amplifies and associations fracture, compelling each person to reconsider their identity and the nature of liberty itself. The pressure surge with every passing moment, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that connects demonic fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to awaken pure dread, an entity from prehistory, manipulating emotional vulnerability, and challenging a spirit that strips down our being when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra meant channeling something beyond human emotion. She is ignorant until the demon emerges, and that shift is emotionally raw because it is so emotional.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that subscribers around the globe can engage with this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has pulled in over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, delivering the story to fans of fear everywhere.


Do not miss this heart-stopping trip into the unknown. Watch *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these terrifying truths about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, production insights, and updates from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across platforms and visit the movie’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 season stateside slate Mixes archetypal-possession themes, indie terrors, in parallel with IP aftershocks

Beginning with life-or-death fear inspired by legendary theology and onward to series comebacks in concert with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 appears poised to be the most dimensioned along with strategic year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio majors stabilize the year with franchise anchors, concurrently subscription platforms stack the fall with discovery plays paired with ancestral chills. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the kinetic energy from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the other windows are mapped with care. The fall stretch is the proving field, notably this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are targeted, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Elevated fear reclaims ground

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s schedule leads off the quarter with a marquee bet: a reconceived Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a clear present-tense world. Directed by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. Pictures rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma driven plotting, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The return delves further into myth, builds out the animatronic fear crew, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Offerings: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale led by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. 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 taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led 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. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. 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 film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No sequel clutter. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts 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.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, steered by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

What to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

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

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: 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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The 2026 terror slate: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, in tandem with A stacked Calendar designed for Scares

Dek: The arriving scare slate lines up at the outset with a January crush, after that spreads through peak season, and running into the holiday frame, weaving franchise firepower, novel approaches, and data-minded offsets. Studios and streamers are committing to mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and buzz-forward plans that convert genre releases into national conversation.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The genre has emerged as the dependable lever in release plans, a category that can scale when it hits and still limit the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can own cultural conversation, 2024 held pace with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The upswing flowed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is an opening for different modes, from series extensions to original features that export nicely. The aggregate for 2026 is a lineup that shows rare alignment across distributors, with strategic blocks, a harmony of household franchises and fresh ideas, and a tightened stance on theatrical windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital rental and subscription services.

Insiders argue the genre now serves as a utility player on the distribution slate. Horror can kick off on most weekends, deliver a tight logline for spots and platform-native cuts, and lead with patrons that appear on Thursday nights and keep coming through the week two if the title works. On the heels of a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm shows belief in that model. The calendar opens with a crowded January lineup, then plants flags in spring and early summer for alternate plays, while holding room for a autumn push that flows toward the Halloween frame and into early November. The schedule also highlights the expanded integration of specialized imprints and digital platforms that can launch in limited release, fuel WOM, and roll out at the proper time.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just pushing another continuation. They are setting up threaded continuity with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a ensemble decision that reconnects a new installment to a vintage era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the marquee originals are doubling down on real-world builds, physical gags and concrete locations. That mix provides the 2026 slate a healthy mix of assurance and unexpected turns, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount leads early with two centerpiece entries that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a foundation-forward character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a nostalgia-forward approach without going over the last two entries’ family thread. Plan for a rollout built on legacy iconography, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mass reach through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three separate plays. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is straightforward, heartbroken, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an algorithmic mate that becomes a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit creepy live activations and bite-size content that interweaves longing and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a name unveil to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His entries are presented as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a subsequent trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date offers Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning approach can feel high-value on a disciplined budget. Look for a gore-forward summer horror charge that spotlights overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is describing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and new audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build assets around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can increase premium format interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in meticulous craft and period speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a sequence that expands both launch urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video will mix outside acquisitions with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, Halloween hubs, and editorial rows to extend momentum on the horror cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about in-house releases and festival snaps, slotting horror entries near launch and framing as events drops with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of precision releases and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with prestige directors or A-list packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for platform stickiness when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 corridor with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is tight: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday slot to scale. That positioning has been successful for arthouse horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception supports. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using limited runs to kindle evangelism that fuels their user base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By volume, 2026 leans in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap marquee value. The trade-off, as ever, is overexposure. The preferred tactic is to market each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is spotlighting core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-inflected take from a rising filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the bundle is comforting enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns help explain the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that observed windows did not stop a dual release from thriving when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror punched above its weight in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still have a peek at these guys feel reinvigorated when they change perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot consecutively, builds a path for marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to leave creative active without lulls.

Craft and creative trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind 2026 horror point to a continued shift toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores aura and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than 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 lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which align with convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that spotlight disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is jammed. 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 somber counterpoint amid marquee brands. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth have a peek here sticks.

Late winter and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the power dynamic tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s in-camera craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting setup that interrogates the fear of a child’s unreliable read. Rating: pending. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-grade 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 returning creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that riffs on current genre trends and true crime fervors. Rating: TBD. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 ignites, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further opens again, with a fresh family lashed to ancient dread. Rating: to be announced. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on pure survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBD. 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 era-accurate language and elemental dread. Rating: TBD. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 and why now

Three hands-on forces organize this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-sequenced in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, managed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers continues in Q1, where midrange-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand power where it counts, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.