Age-old Evil Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising chiller, landing October 2025 across global platforms

This eerie occult suspense story from writer / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an primordial terror when foreigners become tools in a satanic ordeal. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking saga of staying alive and age-old darkness that will resculpt terror storytelling this October. Visualized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and claustrophobic film follows five young adults who arise imprisoned in a isolated wooden structure under the ominous manipulation of Kyra, a female presence possessed by a biblical-era religious nightmare. Get ready to be drawn in by a cinematic experience that blends bodily fright with timeless legends, dropping on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a well-established motif in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is turned on its head when the forces no longer develop beyond the self, but rather through their own souls. This marks the deepest element of the protagonists. The result is a edge-of-seat mind game where the intensity becomes a merciless contest between good and evil.


In a isolated no-man's-land, five figures find themselves contained under the possessive dominion and possession of a elusive female presence. As the survivors becomes submissive to break her power, severed and preyed upon by entities beyond reason, they are thrust to reckon with their darkest emotions while the doomsday meter unceasingly ticks onward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust rises and connections implode, requiring each cast member to evaluate their self and the principle of freedom of choice itself. The danger climb with every minute, delivering a scare-fueled ride that blends occult fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken instinctual horror, an force rooted in antiquity, working through fragile psyche, and testing a power that erodes the self when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra meant channeling something rooted in terror. She is clueless until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is bone-chilling because it is so close.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure households everywhere 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 follow-through to its first preview, which has been viewed over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, taking the terror to lovers of terror across nations.


Tune in for this visceral trip into the unknown. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to survive these terrifying truths about free will.


For featurettes, on-set glimpses, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across social media and visit our spooky domain.





Horror’s watershed moment: calendar year 2025 U.S. rollouts Mixes archetypal-possession themes, festival-born jolts, plus franchise surges

From survival horror saturated with old testament echoes and extending to returning series as well as keen independent perspectives, 2025 is emerging as the most variegated plus strategic year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio majors hold down the year by way of signature titles, in tandem streaming platforms crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against legend-coded dread. On the independent axis, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the kinetic energy from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween stays the prime week, the other windows are mapped with care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, though in this cycle, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are intentional, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline fires the first shot with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in an immediate now. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Led by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures bows the concluding entry inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson re teams, and the tone that worked before is intact: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The return delves further into myth, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It opens in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a two hander body horror spiral including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a lock for fall streaming.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale with Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

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.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, 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 chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated mythology. No continuity burden. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Key Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

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

Platform originals gain bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

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

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 genre lineup: returning titles, filmmaker-first projects, paired with A jammed Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek: The fresh genre slate clusters up front with a January wave, after that flows through the summer months, and continuing into the late-year period, mixing legacy muscle, creative pitches, and savvy release strategy. The major players are relying on right-sized spends, theater-first strategies, and platform-native promos that pivot these releases into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has established itself as the surest counterweight in programming grids, a corner that can lift when it catches and still hedge the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 signaled to top brass that mid-range scare machines can shape the zeitgeist, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with visionary-driven titles and sleeper breakouts. The energy fed into 2025, where re-entries and festival-grade titles demonstrated there is demand for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to original features that scale internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a calendar that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with strategic blocks, a equilibrium of established brands and new pitches, and a renewed strategy on exhibition windows that feed downstream value on PVOD and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now serves as a schedule utility on the release plan. The genre can kick off on most weekends, provide a easy sell for spots and TikTok spots, and exceed norms with moviegoers that lean in on early shows and continue through the week two if the title fires. After a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout exhibits confidence in that setup. The year launches with a stacked January stretch, then primes spring and early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a fall corridor that carries into All Hallows period and past Halloween. The layout also illustrates the continuing integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can platform and widen, spark evangelism, and expand at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across shared IP webs and established properties. Major shops are not just making another next film. They are seeking to position lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that announces a re-angled tone or a star attachment that connects a latest entry to a early run. At the same time, the directors behind the most buzzed-about originals are doubling down on practical craft, on-set effects and grounded locations. That fusion produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of trust and discovery, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount leads early with two spotlight releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the focus, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a heritage-centered relationship-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a throwback-friendly bent without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive driven by signature symbols, character-first teases, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will seek large awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick pivots to whatever shapes trend lines that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tidy, soulful, and logline-clear: a grieving man installs an AI companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to revisit uncanny live moments and short-form creative that interweaves devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an attention spike closer to the first look. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are branded as must-see filmmaker statements, with a opaque teaser and a subsequent trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal room to saturate 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a tactile, physical-effects centered mix can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror rush that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio mounts two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, continuing a steady supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is selling 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 well-defined brief to serve both core fans and general audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build campaign pieces around lore, and monster design, elements that can stoke IMAX and PLF uptake and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in meticulous craft and historical speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus Features has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre entries window into copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that elevates both initial urgency and subscription bumps in the downstream. Prime Video combines acquired titles with worldwide entries and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library curation, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and collection rows to maximize imp source the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, timing horror entries closer to launch and eventizing rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of targeted cinema placements and prompt platform moves that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 arc with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is tight: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, managing the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to go wider. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Keep an eye on 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 as partners, using precision theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchises versus originals

By tilt, 2026 tips toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is underscoring character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French sensibility from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the bundle is anchored enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Comparable trends from recent years frame the strategy. In 2023, a theater-first model that respected streaming windows did not preclude a simultaneous release test from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, precision craft horror punched above its weight in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they angle differently and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character web and themes and to keep assets in-market without long gaps.

How the films are being made

The shop talk behind the year’s horror indicate a continued lean toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that elevates unease and texture rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in long-lead press and artisan spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and earns shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster realization and design, which match well with booth activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel essential. Look for trailers that center precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the spread of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

Winter into spring load in summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Shoulder season into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a slow-reveal plan and limited teasers that favor idea over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion shifts into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

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 changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. 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 prickly boss work to survive on a rugged island as the control balance inverts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s physical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 closed-door haunting narrative that frames the panic through a kid’s flickering personal vantage. Rating: pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A satirical comeback that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further extends again, with a different family anchored to ancient dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on classic survival-horror tone over action-centric bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: closely held. Rating: undetermined. Production: continuing. 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 antique diction and ancient menace. Rating: pending. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026, why now

Three grounded forces frame this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or reshuffled in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic 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 drops. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit 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 somber, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, acoustics, and image-making 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 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.