Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primeval horror, a nerve shredding chiller, launching October 2025 across major platforms

This bone-chilling occult nightmare movie from dramatist / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an long-buried fear when guests become tokens in a satanic trial. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish depiction of resistance and timeless dread that will remodel genre cinema this cool-weather season. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five characters who regain consciousness stuck in a wooded shelter under the sinister rule of Kyra, a female presence claimed by a biblical-era sacred-era entity. Anticipate to be immersed by a theatrical presentation that intertwines visceral dread with arcane tradition, debuting 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 time-honored narrative in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is challenged when the malevolences no longer arise from a different plane, but rather inside them. This illustrates the grimmest dimension of the protagonists. The result is a edge-of-seat spiritual tug-of-war where the emotions becomes a merciless fight between good and evil.


In a barren backcountry, five youths find themselves trapped under the malicious effect and control of a shadowy person. As the victims becomes unresisting to oppose her will, abandoned and targeted by unknowns mind-shattering, they are cornered to confront their inner demons while the time unceasingly edges forward toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust rises and friendships collapse, urging each member to examine their existence and the notion of free will itself. The consequences rise with every fleeting time, delivering a scare-fueled ride that marries demonic fright with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to channel primal fear, an curse that existed before mankind, filtering through human fragility, and examining a entity that tests the soul when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is deeply unsettling because it is so personal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that users globally can survive this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has gathered over strong viewer count.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Join this visceral spiral into evil. Enter *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to uncover these dark realities about mankind.


For teasers, filmmaker commentary, and alerts from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the film’s website.





Modern horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts braids together Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, stacked beside franchise surges

Moving from endurance-driven terror suffused with biblical myth and extending to canon extensions together with focused festival visions, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted along with precision-timed year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. the big studios stabilize the year through proven series, at the same time digital services stack the fall with new perspectives paired with old-world menace. On another front, the independent cohort is riding the carry of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween holding the peak, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, and now, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are calculated, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

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

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal banner opens the year with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a sharp contemporary setting. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. landing in mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Led by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner’s pipeline delivers the closing chapter within its surest horror brand: 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. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Next is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the tone that worked before is intact: retro dread, trauma foregrounded, with ghostly inner logic. This time, the stakes are raised, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It opens in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

SVOD Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed by 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. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Key Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

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

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Projection: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. 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 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The new fright calendar year ahead: Sequels, non-franchise titles, alongside A stacked Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The upcoming scare slate crams in short order with a January crush, following that carries through the summer months, and carrying into the winter holidays, blending franchise firepower, creative pitches, and strategic counter-scheduling. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and buzz-forward plans that position these offerings into cross-demo moments.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This category has shown itself to be the steady play in programming grids, a pillar that can expand when it breaks through and still safeguard the liability when it stumbles. After the 2023 year signaled to executives that responsibly budgeted shockers can command pop culture, 2024 maintained heat with festival-darling auteurs and word-of-mouth wins. The carry moved into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and filmmaker-prestige bets made clear there is appetite for a variety of tones, from franchise continuations to one-and-done originals that carry overseas. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with mapped-out bands, a balance of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a re-energized attention on release windows that fuel later windows on PVOD and SVOD.

Marketers add the horror lane now works like a versatile piece on the release plan. The genre can roll out on almost any weekend, furnish a clean hook for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and outstrip with ticket buyers that respond on first-look nights and stick through the week two if the movie connects. Coming out of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 pattern indicates assurance in that dynamic. The year launches with a heavy January window, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while saving space for a October build that reaches into the fright window and into the next week. The schedule also spotlights the tightening integration of specialty arms and streamers that can stage a platform run, fuel WOM, and move wide at the inflection point.

A notable top-line trend is legacy care across connected story worlds and storied titles. Distribution groups are not just turning out another return. They are setting up lore continuity with a occasion, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a reframed mood or a talent selection that reconnects a new entry to a vintage era. At the alongside this, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are favoring physical effects work, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That mix affords the 2026 slate a strong blend of brand comfort and novelty, which is how the films export.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two big-ticket pushes that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a memory-charged approach without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Look for a marketing run driven by classic imagery, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reboots 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 on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will hunt mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick shifts to whatever tops the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three specific projects. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and premise-first: a grieving man adopts an intelligent companion that grows into a harmful mate. The date puts it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back strange in-person beats and short-cut promos that fuses love and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a title reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial promo. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His projects are treated as signature events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The prime October weekend gives Universal room 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, practical-first approach can feel big on a mid-range budget. Look for a splatter summer horror rush that movies pushes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio mounts two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is describing as a reset 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 charge to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can boost deluxe auditorium demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on careful craft and archaic language, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is positive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate flow to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a ordering that expands both initial urgency and subscriber lifts in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances library titles with cross-border buys and small theatrical windows when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and curated rows to stretch the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix films and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a paired of targeted cinema placements and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has proven amenable to purchase select projects with award winners or headline-cast packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 lane with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is clear: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a standard theatrical run for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late-season weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday dates to move out. That positioning has been successful for craft-driven horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception prompts. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using precision theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By number, 2026 is weighted toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on cultural cachet. The risk, as ever, is audience fatigue. The workable fix is to frame each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is leading with character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the bundle is anchored enough to spark pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps announce the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept streaming intact did not hamper a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they angle differently and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances 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 shot in tandem, creates space for marketing to link the films through cast and motif and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind 2026 horror suggest a continued preference for practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser 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 geared for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and earns shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature execution and sets, which align with convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel key. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that land in big rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is loaded. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid heavier IP. The month winds down 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 thick, but the variety of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late winter and spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited previews that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s virtual companion becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss struggle to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic reverses and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, shaped by Cronin’s physical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting scenario that toys with the chill of a child’s uncertain perspective. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-crafted and name-above-title eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family anchored to past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. 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: to be announced publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A new start designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival-driven horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: forthcoming. Production: underway. 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 primal menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 and why now

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which my review here gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized footprints, 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 texture, soundscape, and cinematography that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is IP strength where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shocks sell the seats.