Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An frightening supernatural horror tale from screenwriter / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an primeval curse when unknowns become victims in a satanic contest. Releasing October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing journey of perseverance and age-old darkness that will transform genre cinema this ghoul season. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and atmospheric tale follows five people who are stirred imprisoned in a wilderness-bound shack under the dark dominion of Kyra, a young woman haunted by a prehistoric biblical demon. Ready yourself to be captivated by a immersive adventure that unites intense horror with biblical origins, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a iconic fixture in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is reversed when the presences no longer emerge beyond the self, but rather from within. This represents the darkest shade of the group. The result is a edge-of-seat internal warfare where the intensity becomes a relentless confrontation between light and darkness.


In a unforgiving wilderness, five campers find themselves contained under the possessive influence and control of a unknown apparition. As the group becomes helpless to resist her rule, exiled and attacked by powers mind-shattering, they are compelled to acknowledge their darkest emotions while the countdown unforgivingly moves toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust intensifies and links shatter, forcing each participant to scrutinize their personhood and the integrity of personal agency itself. The intensity accelerate with every beat, delivering a frightening tale that connects ghostly evil with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to channel primal fear, an force from ancient eras, working through mental cracks, and navigating a will that challenges autonomy when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something unfamiliar to reason. She is insensitive until the curse activates, and that pivot is deeply unsettling because it is so personal.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that subscribers internationally can get immersed in this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has pulled in over notable views.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, extending the thrill to a global viewership.


Mark your calendar for this cinematic exploration of dread. Experience *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to face these fearful discoveries about our species.


For exclusive trailers, special features, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across online outlets and visit youngandcursed.com.





The horror genre’s inflection point: 2025 across markets U.S. lineup blends ancient-possession motifs, underground frights, in parallel with franchise surges

Spanning fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with ancient scripture as well as series comebacks alongside acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the most stratified together with precision-timed year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. the big studios plant stakes across the year with known properties, while subscription platforms pack the fall with unboxed visions as well as mythic dread. At the same time, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is surfing the kinetic energy of a record-setting 2024 festival season. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, so 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the base, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s slate begins the calendar with a statement play: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. arriving mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Guided by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer winds down, the Warner lot launches the swan song from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re boards, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: 70s style chill, trauma foregrounded, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The stakes escalate here, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

SVOD Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. 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 body horror duet including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. 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.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No canon weight. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Long Running Lines: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Key Trends

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror reemerges
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forward View: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The upcoming Horror calendar year ahead: installments, original films, together with A Crowded Calendar tailored for screams

Dek: The current genre calendar loads immediately with a January cluster, following that rolls through summer, and continuing into the year-end corridor, weaving brand equity, untold stories, and smart counterweight. Studios with streamers are doubling down on smart costs, theater-first strategies, and buzz-forward plans that convert genre releases into water-cooler talk.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This space has grown into the dependable play in studio calendars, a lane that can break out when it connects and still limit the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 showed greenlighters that cost-conscious genre plays can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and festival-grade titles underscored there is room for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The net effect for 2026 is a roster that looks unusually coordinated across the major shops, with defined corridors, a combination of marquee IP and novel angles, and a sharpened focus on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on premium home window and streaming.

Insiders argue the genre now functions as a plug-and-play option on the calendar. The genre can kick off on numerous frames, create a grabby hook for promo reels and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with viewers that arrive on first-look nights and continue through the next weekend if the film fires. Exiting a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration signals comfort in that model. The slate kicks off with a heavy January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while holding room for a autumn push that carries into Halloween and past Halloween. The schedule also illustrates the increasing integration of indie arms and platforms that can build gradually, generate chatter, and grow at the timely point.

An added macro current is brand curation across shared universes and storied titles. The studios are not just pushing another next film. They are setting up lineage with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that connects a fresh chapter to a original cycle. At the very same time, the directors behind the top original plays are doubling down on physical effects work, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That convergence hands 2026 a smart balance of brand comfort and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount leads early with two prominent releases that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a legacy handover and a classic-mode check over here character piece. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach hints at a memory-charged framework without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive built on signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a trailer cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will go after mainstream recognition through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format fitting quick adjustments to whatever defines pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated plays. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tight, soulful, and easily pitched: a grieving man implements an artificial companion that becomes a dangerous lover. The date positions it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to replay odd public stunts and brief clips that hybridizes longing and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a branding reveal to become an attention spike closer to the initial tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His entries are positioned as marquee events, with a hinting teaser and a later trailer push that define feel without revealing the concept. The late-October frame opens a lane to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a tactile, physical-effects centered execution can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror hit that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio sets two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, continuing a reliable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is selling as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both franchise faithful and first-timers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build promo materials around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can amplify large-format demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time set against lycan legends. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform tactics for 2026 run on tested paths. The studio’s horror films flow to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a tiered path that maximizes both premiere heat and sub growth in the after-window. Prime Video blends acquired titles with global acquisitions and limited cinema engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library engagement, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and curated rows to extend momentum on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about in-house releases and festival snaps, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and turning into events debuts with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of limited theatrical footprints and prompt platform moves that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown appetite to board select projects with recognized filmmakers or headline-cast packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation swells.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 sequence with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is straightforward: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, recalibrated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a theatrical-first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late-season weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, managing the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then using the holiday frame to move out. That positioning has served the company well for auteur More about the author horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception merits. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited runs to ignite evangelism that fuels their audience.

Known brands versus new stories

By tilt, the 2026 slate leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use household recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to package each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is grounded enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night turnout.

Comparable trends from recent years outline the model. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that kept clean windows did not deter a hybrid test from performing when the brand was sticky. In 2024, precision craft horror surged in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and scale the storytelling. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, gives leeway to marketing to bridge entries through character and theme and to continue assets in field without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The creative meetings behind the upcoming entries signal a continued emphasis on in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that highlights texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead Young & Cursed features and department features before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta pivot that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature and environment design, which align with con floor moments and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that underscore fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that benefit on big speakers.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is full. 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 heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the mix of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth persists.

Q1 into Q2 seed summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens 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 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can hit 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 shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a early fall window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a minimalist tease strategy and limited advance reveals that put concept first.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and card redemption.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate turns into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss claw to survive on a uninhabited island as the control dynamic upends and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s practical craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting premise that plays with the unease of a child’s wobbly impressions. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-supported and marquee-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that satirizes present-day genre chatter and true crime fervors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography set for 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 breaks out, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a young family anchored to lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survivalist horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 period language and elemental fear. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three practical forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or migrated in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strict 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 drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

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

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a banquet, 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 gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, disciplined footprints, 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 imagery 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.