Mythic Dread Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

One spine-tingling unearthly nightmare movie from writer / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an forgotten malevolence when guests become tokens in a malevolent struggle. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing depiction of struggle and prehistoric entity that will alter scare flicks this Halloween season. Directed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and moody motion picture follows five young adults who wake up stranded in a hidden shelter under the menacing influence of Kyra, a tormented girl possessed by a timeless biblical force. Be prepared to be hooked by a cinematic outing that melds primitive horror with timeless legends, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a legendary tradition in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is subverted when the dark entities no longer come from external sources, but rather inside them. This depicts the shadowy layer of each of them. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a merciless fight between divinity and wickedness.


In a desolate wilderness, five characters find themselves contained under the ghastly sway and infestation of a secretive figure. As the protagonists becomes incapable to fight her rule, marooned and tracked by unknowns mind-shattering, they are driven to encounter their inner horrors while the countdown without pity pushes forward toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear swells and connections dissolve, compelling each member to reflect on their being and the philosophy of liberty itself. The consequences rise with every second, delivering a frightening tale that blends demonic fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to awaken elemental fright, an entity that existed before mankind, emerging via inner turmoil, and questioning a power that forces self-examination when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant evoking something outside normal anguish. She is innocent until the control shifts, and that flip is terrifying because it is so close.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for digital release beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that customers in all regions can experience this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has garnered over massive response.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, taking the terror to international horror buffs.


Don’t miss this visceral descent into darkness. Watch *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to experience these spiritual awakenings about the human condition.


For featurettes, filmmaker commentary, and announcements straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across platforms and visit the official website.





Horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 for genre fans U.S. lineup melds archetypal-possession themes, indie terrors, stacked beside Franchise Rumbles

Spanning life-or-death fear inspired by ancient scripture all the way to brand-name continuations paired with keen independent perspectives, 2025 appears poised to be the richest paired with intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios lock in tentpoles using marquee IP, while premium streamers load up the fall with debut heat alongside scriptural shivers. On another front, horror’s indie wing is propelled by the echoes of a peak 2024 circuit. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the other windows are mapped with care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are surgical, so 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s distribution arm begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. set for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. From director Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. Pictures bows the concluding entry from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, and eerie supernatural logic. This time the stakes climb, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It posts in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga starring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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.

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Fall saturation and a winter joker

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The upcoming spook lineup: entries, non-franchise titles, as well as A hectic Calendar designed for screams

Dek: The brand-new genre slate builds right away with a January wave, after that flows through midyear, and deep into the December corridor, blending IP strength, new concepts, and well-timed release strategy. The major players are prioritizing lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that frame horror entries into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The field has become the steady swing in studio lineups, a vertical that can spike when it lands and still insulate the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 showed buyers that efficiently budgeted fright engines can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and unexpected risers. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and prestige plays underscored there is an opening for a variety of tones, from ongoing IP entries to non-IP projects that export nicely. The takeaway for 2026 is a schedule that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of recognizable IP and new packages, and a sharpened stance on release windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and platforms.

Executives say the category now works like a flex slot on the calendar. The genre can debut on virtually any date, yield a sharp concept for teasers and short-form placements, and lead with patrons that arrive on Thursday previews and stick through the second frame if the entry delivers. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm signals faith in that setup. The year starts with a busy January corridor, then uses spring and early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a fall run that carries into spooky season and past Halloween. The arrangement also shows the ongoing integration of arthouse labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, create conversation, and move wide at the precise moment.

A companion trend is brand curation across unified worlds and heritage properties. Studios are not just rolling another chapter. They are working to present continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a reframed mood or a casting pivot that reconnects a next entry to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the creative teams behind the top original plays are celebrating material texture, practical effects and site-specific worlds. That combination offers the 2026 slate a robust balance of recognition and novelty, which is how the films export.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount defines the early cadence with two spotlight projects that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s great post to read chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, signaling it as both a succession moment and a classic-mode relationship-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach signals a legacy-leaning angle without covering again the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push leaning on classic imagery, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever drives the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three defined plays. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that mutates into a killer companion. The date lines it up at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise odd public stunts and micro spots that fuses romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions 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 official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s work are positioned as director events, with a opaque teaser and a later trailer push that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has proven that a raw, makeup-driven treatment can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror jolt that centers global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is describing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign creative around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

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 continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on immersive craft and historical speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on proven patterns. The studio’s horror films transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a sequence that amplifies both week-one demand and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and curated rows to lengthen the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival pickups, dating horror entries near their drops and coalescing around releases with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and swift platform pivots that drives paid trials from buzz. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to invest in select projects with award winners or name-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 sequence with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to increase reach. That positioning has paid off for craft-driven horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By share, 2026 leans toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit marquee value. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to present each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the configuration is recognizable enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years clarify the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not block a day-date try from succeeding when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror rose in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, enables marketing to relate entries through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

Production craft signals

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries signal a continued lean toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus this content will likely frame this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and produces shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster work and world-building, which align with convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel key. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to 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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth persists.

Winter into spring seed summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows 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 comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can connect 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 series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a bridge slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s AI companion becomes something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms 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 travels 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: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 hard-edged boss push to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to menace, driven by Cronin’s practical effects and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 family-home haunting narrative that threads the dread through a preteen’s uncertain internal vantage. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that skewers current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: cameras due to roll 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 ignites, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan bound to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival-core horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: closely held. Rating: not yet rated. Production: underway. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and primal menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three nuts-and-bolts forces frame this lineup. First, production that paused or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify meme-ready beats from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will share space across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where modest-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 work those windows. 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.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, 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 Shapes Up Strong

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, original 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.