Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts ancient terror, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

A hair-raising supernatural thriller from literary architect / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primordial terror when drifters become instruments in a malevolent maze. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish episode of survival and mythic evil that will transform terror storytelling this autumn. Crafted by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and tone-heavy film follows five characters who arise ensnared in a off-grid cottage under the hostile sway of Kyra, a troubled woman consumed by a biblical-era holy text monster. Anticipate to be shaken by a big screen venture that intertwines raw fear with ancestral stories, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic tradition in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is challenged when the demons no longer develop from an outside force, but rather from deep inside. This mirrors the malevolent version of every character. The result is a emotionally raw mind game where the events becomes a merciless face-off between virtue and vice.


In a barren outland, five teens find themselves trapped under the ghastly dominion and domination of a elusive spirit. As the survivors becomes unresisting to escape her manipulation, severed and targeted by entities inconceivable, they are confronted to stand before their inner demons while the final hour coldly ticks toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia grows and bonds collapse, demanding each person to contemplate their personhood and the nature of volition itself. The danger climb with every instant, delivering a chilling narrative that blends paranormal dread with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to dive into primitive panic, an darkness from ancient eras, manifesting in psychological breaks, and wrestling with a entity that threatens selfhood when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra involved tapping into something far beyond human desperation. She is blind until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is terrifying because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring watchers from coast to coast can enjoy this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has racked up over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, bringing the film to viewers around the world.


Join this cinematic path of possession. Explore *Young & Cursed* this launch day to witness these nightmarish insights about existence.


For behind-the-scenes access, behind-the-scenes content, and social posts directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit the official digital haunt.





Modern horror’s watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans American release plan melds archetypal-possession themes, underground frights, set against IP aftershocks

Beginning with endurance-driven terror steeped in scriptural legend all the way to canon extensions together with incisive indie visions, 2025 is coalescing into horror’s most layered in tandem with calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. Major studios are anchoring the year with established lines, concurrently streaming platforms pack the fall with new voices and legend-coded dread. On the independent axis, indie storytellers is surfing the afterglow from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are calculated, accordingly 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal camp opens the year with a big gambit: a contemporary Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Led by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer wanes, the Warner lot drops the final chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. This time, the stakes are raised, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It bows in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters lean on names and sequels, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of 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 canny scheduling. No bloated mythology. No series drag. 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 feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. 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 tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror resurges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forward View: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 scare Year Ahead: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, alongside A busy Calendar calibrated for Scares

Dek The incoming genre year crowds from the jump with a January cluster, and then flows through the warm months, and straight through the year-end corridor, marrying name recognition, fresh ideas, and tactical offsets. Studios and platforms are committing to mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that turn these pictures into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has turned into the dependable play in annual schedules, a space that can surge when it breaks through and still safeguard the liability when it does not. After the 2023 year proved to greenlighters that low-to-mid budget entries can shape the discourse, the following year continued the surge with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The head of steam moved into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles confirmed there is room for several lanes, from franchise continuations to non-IP projects that carry overseas. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a calendar that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with strategic blocks, a equilibrium of familiar brands and novel angles, and a reinvigorated commitment on release windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now works like a swing piece on the slate. The genre can debut on nearly any frame, yield a clear pitch for marketing and UGC-friendly snippets, and lead with audiences that line up on opening previews and sustain through the next pass if the film satisfies. In the wake of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm reflects certainty in that equation. The slate begins with a front-loaded January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while reserving space for a late-year stretch that connects to All Hallows period and past Halloween. The program also illustrates the deeper integration of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the proper time.

An added macro current is legacy care across linked properties and veteran brands. Studio teams are not just mounting another entry. They are looking to package lineage with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a re-angled tone or a lead change that anchors a new installment to a foundational era. At the same time, the writer-directors behind the marquee originals are celebrating in-camera technique, real effects and site-specific worlds. That mix gives the 2026 slate a lively combination of assurance and surprise, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two prominent entries that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the spine, setting it up as both a handoff and a classic-mode character-driven entry. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the tonal posture conveys a memory-charged angle without repeating the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave anchored in heritage visuals, character-first teases, and a rollout cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after large awareness through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick turns to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three unique lanes. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is elegant, grief-rooted, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an virtual partner that escalates into a murderous partner. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to bring back eerie street stunts and snackable content that fuses companionship and terror.

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 public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a public title to become an event moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s work are marketed as creative events, with a opaque teaser and a later trailer push that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal to fill 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has demonstrated that a in-your-face, practical-effects forward mix can feel prestige on a lean spend. Frame it as a splatter summer horror surge that emphasizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio rolls out two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is marketing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both longtime followers and newcomers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can stoke premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in minute detail and language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus’s team has already locked the day for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate feed copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a structure that expands both debut momentum and sub growth in the later window. Prime Video will mix catalogue additions with world buys and short theatrical plays when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library curation, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and staff picks to keep attention on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival grabs, securing horror entries on shorter runways and making event-like rollouts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a staged of selective theatrical runs and swift platform pivots that turns chatter to conversion. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to buy select projects with accomplished filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds 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 input for monthly activity when the genre conversation heats up.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is mapping 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 cult classic, upgraded for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the October weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the December frame to broaden. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-first horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception justifies. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited runs to jump-start evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, 2026 leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is elevating character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a Francophone tone from a ascendant talent. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and auteur plays supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the assembly is grounded enough to drive advance ticketing and first-night audiences.

The last three-year set illuminate the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive window model that observed windows did not deter a day-and-date experiment from hitting when the brand was strong. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through character and theme and to hold creative in the market without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the 2026 entries point to a continued shift toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds texture and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a first look that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which work nicely for expo activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that emphasize pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that work in PLF.

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 moody palate cleanser amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons 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 credible, but the range of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth persists.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited plot reveals that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s machine mate becomes something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th horror 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 battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 reimagining that returns the monster to fear, driven by Cronin’s physical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. 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 in-home haunting tale that explores the horror of a child’s uncertain perspective. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. 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 genre lampoon that skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime buzz. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. 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 detonates, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a different family tethered to past horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: pending. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBA. Production: underway. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 elemental menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces define this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-sequenced in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest repeatable beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

The slot calculus is real. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can control a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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, Source since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome 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 command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sonics, 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

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand equity where it matters, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, lock the reveals, and let the screams sell the seats.