Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens ancient terror, a hair raising feature, launching October 2025 across major platforms

An eerie metaphysical suspense film from creator / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an age-old curse when drifters become tools in a devilish ritual. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching narrative of resistance and mythic evil that will reshape terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Helmed by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive screenplay follows five unacquainted souls who find themselves ensnared in a off-grid dwelling under the oppressive grip of Kyra, a possessed female consumed by a two-thousand-year-old sacrosanct terror. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a theatrical presentation that fuses visceral dread with folklore, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a classic tradition in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is flipped when the presences no longer come outside the characters, but rather from their psyche. This embodies the most hidden aspect of the protagonists. The result is a gripping spiritual tug-of-war where the tension becomes a brutal contest between right and wrong.


In a forsaken landscape, five characters find themselves confined under the malevolent grip and domination of a secretive spirit. As the companions becomes powerless to resist her command, cut off and pursued by forces indescribable, they are compelled to deal with their emotional phantoms while the seconds relentlessly strikes toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion swells and alliances crack, forcing each soul to contemplate their personhood and the nature of conscious will itself. The hazard accelerate with every breath, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to explore primal fear, an presence older than civilization itself, emerging via human fragility, and questioning a curse that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra demanded embodying something past sanity. She is uninformed until the takeover begins, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so close.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving fans everywhere can watch this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has pulled in over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, giving access to the movie to global fright lovers.


Avoid skipping this gripping descent into darkness. Confront *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to witness these dark realities about human nature.


For director insights, production news, and reveals from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across social media and visit the official movie site.





Modern horror’s watershed moment: 2025 U.S. rollouts interlaces myth-forward possession, indie terrors, plus tentpole growls

Beginning with survivor-centric dread steeped in scriptural legend through to IP renewals plus acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the most variegated plus calculated campaign year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. the big studios bookend the months by way of signature titles, in parallel premium streamers saturate the fall with unboxed visions set against ancient terrors. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is carried on the tailwinds of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are surgical, so 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Elevated fear reclaims ground

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

Universal leads off the quarter with a statement play: a reimagined Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. With Leigh Whannell at the helm anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. timed for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma as theme, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The follow up digs further into canon, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Plays: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a two hander body horror spiral featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No IP hangover. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their 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.

Badges become bargaining chips
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

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

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. 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 aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 spook season: returning titles, standalone ideas, and also A brimming Calendar optimized for jolts

Dek The upcoming scare year clusters up front with a January glut, before it flows through June and July, and deep into the December corridor, mixing legacy muscle, fresh ideas, and shrewd release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are relying on efficient budgets, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that turn horror entries into national conversation.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has emerged as the dependable move in release strategies, a pillar that can grow when it resonates and still limit the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 demonstrated to decision-makers that mid-range genre plays can dominate cultural conversation, the following year continued the surge with festival-darling auteurs and stealth successes. The momentum translated to 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers demonstrated there is room for varied styles, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that perform internationally. The result for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with mapped-out bands, a mix of household franchises and new concepts, and a tightened priority on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and OTT platforms.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now behaves like a utility player on the slate. Horror can arrive on open real estate, offer a tight logline for marketing and UGC-friendly snippets, and over-index with moviegoers that turn out on opening previews and stick through the next pass if the entry pays off. Post a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 setup underscores comfort in that logic. The calendar begins with a stacked January run, then leans on spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while reserving space for a October build that reaches into Halloween and into early November. The map also highlights the expanded integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can platform a title, generate chatter, and roll out at the right moment.

Another broad trend is brand management across brand ecosystems and long-running brands. The companies are not just mounting another continuation. They are seeking to position story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a re-angled tone or a casting move that ties a upcoming film to a classic era. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the marquee originals are embracing in-camera technique, makeup and prosthetics and concrete locations. That pairing offers the 2026 slate a robust balance of brand comfort and discovery, which is what works overseas.

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

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate entries that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, framing it as both a handoff and a heritage-centered character-focused installment. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a roots-evoking treatment without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push driven by heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a tiered teaser plan targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will feature. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever rules the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three separate releases. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man sets up an machine companion that becomes a killer companion. The date positions it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to reprise off-kilter promo beats and quick hits that blurs devotion and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a final title to become an fan moment closer to the early tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His entries are treated as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The prime October weekend lets the studio to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy execution can feel deluxe on a moderate cost. Frame it as a red-band summer horror jolt that leans into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio sets two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, sustaining a proven supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is calling a clean-slate approach 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 provides the studio time to build materials around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can increase premium screens and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in careful craft and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

Digital platform strategies

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s horror titles land on copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a ordering that fortifies both launch urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using curated hubs, October hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries toward the drop and staging as events launches with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and speedy platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from this website the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is straightforward: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, reimagined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional cinema play for the title, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the year-end corridor to open out. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-driven genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception drives. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited runs to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 tips toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on marquee value. The risk, as ever, is brand erosion. The workable fix is to brand each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is leading with character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a ascendant talent. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is familiar enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not preclude a dual release from succeeding when the brand was robust. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror popped in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and scale the storytelling. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters shot in tandem, allows marketing to tie installments through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate foreshadow a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that foregrounds unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in trade spotlights and department features before rolling out a first look that withholds plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-referential reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature work and production design, which are ideal for convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that shine in top rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. 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 moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s machine mate grows into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 ascends 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 severe boss fight to survive on a far-flung island as the chain of command turns and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, driven by Cronin’s material craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting chiller that channels the fear through a child’s flickering perspective. Rating: forthcoming. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-built and headline-actor led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that pokes at today’s horror trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. 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 bursts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further extends again, with a unlucky family entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: undetermined. Production: proceeding. 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-precise speech and elemental fear. Rating: TBD. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three grounded forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or rearranged in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming placements. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on meme-ready beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The dark-horse hunt 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, 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 tempo and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, smart allocations, 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 grain, sound field, 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing 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 Check This Out at least one last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the fear sell the seats.