Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

This frightening spectral suspense story from scriptwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an prehistoric evil when unknowns become vehicles in a cursed ceremony. Debuting on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing account of resistance and archaic horror that will remodel the fear genre this autumn. Realized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric film follows five individuals who regain consciousness imprisoned in a isolated shack under the oppressive dominion of Kyra, a mysterious girl consumed by a ancient biblical demon. Anticipate to be immersed by a filmic experience that harmonizes instinctive fear with ancient myths, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a long-standing theme in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is reversed when the demons no longer appear from beyond, but rather through their own souls. This portrays the most hidden element of every character. The result is a bone-chilling emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a brutal conflict between light and darkness.


In a bleak backcountry, five young people find themselves confined under the evil aura and domination of a haunted person. As the youths becomes incapable to reject her will, stranded and tormented by spirits mind-shattering, they are obligated to confront their greatest panics while the seconds ruthlessly counts down toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion swells and connections erode, requiring each protagonist to scrutinize their existence and the structure of freedom of choice itself. The intensity surge with every breath, delivering a chilling narrative that harmonizes demonic fright with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to tap into instinctual horror, an power beyond recorded history, manifesting in inner turmoil, and examining a darkness that strips down our being when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant evoking something past sanity. She is unaware until the control shifts, and that transformation is harrowing because it is so deep.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring subscribers everywhere can get immersed in this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has earned over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, presenting the nightmare to scare fans abroad.


Don’t miss this mind-warping ride through nightmares. Experience *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to witness these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For cast commentary, director cuts, and reveals from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursed across media channels and visit youngandcursed.com.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the year 2025 U.S. lineup braids together legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, alongside series shake-ups

Spanning survivor-centric dread rooted in mythic scripture through to franchise returns set beside focused festival visions, 2025 is lining up as the richest plus strategic year in years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. leading studios lay down anchors using marquee IP, in tandem digital services pack the fall with unboxed visions and legend-coded dread. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is drafting behind the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are exacting, so 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal Pictures leads off the quarter with a confident swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, Warner Bros. releases the last chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma in the foreground, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It bows in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Firsts: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror duet including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped 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. It is a calculated bet. No overweight mythology. No legacy baggage. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
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 Makes a Comeback
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Near Term Outlook: Fall stack and winter swing card

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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming genre calendar year ahead: returning titles, Originals, plus A stacked Calendar geared toward frights

Dek The incoming genre year crowds from the jump with a January cluster, following that runs through June and July, and deep into the December corridor, marrying series momentum, novel approaches, and smart counterweight. Studios and platforms are focusing on tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that frame horror entries into water-cooler talk.

How the genre looks for 2026

The horror sector has become the dependable option in annual schedules, a corner that can lift when it resonates and still protect the downside when it does not. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for top brass that efficiently budgeted pictures can drive pop culture, the following year kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The energy fed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings proved there is a lane for different modes, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that travel well. The sum for the 2026 slate is a calendar that appears tightly organized across the field, with mapped-out bands, a spread of recognizable IP and original hooks, and a sharpened attention on box-office windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and OTT platforms.

Executives say the horror lane now slots in as a swing piece on the programming map. Horror can arrive on many corridors, yield a tight logline for ad units and UGC-friendly snippets, and lead with demo groups that respond on Thursday nights and keep coming through the second frame if the feature pays off. Post a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 configuration telegraphs conviction in that setup. The calendar begins with a loaded January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for audience offsets, while holding room for a September to October window that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The schedule also spotlights the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and home platforms that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and widen at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across unified worlds and established properties. Distribution groups are not just releasing another continuation. They are trying to present lineage with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that announces a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that anchors a next entry to a early run. At the parallel to that, the creative leads behind the top original plays are doubling down on practical craft, practical effects and vivid settings. That fusion hands the 2026 slate a solid mix of familiarity and shock, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two centerpiece moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Source Neve Campbell back at the heart, angling it as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture points to a fan-service aware approach without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. A campaign is expected fueled by brand visuals, first-look character reveals, and a tease cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will feature. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after mass reach through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick turns to whatever drives the discourse that spring.

Universal has three defined entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, soulful, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man onboards an artificial companion that unfolds into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to replay odd public stunts and short reels that threads attachment and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are treated as event films, with a minimalist tease and a follow-up trailer set that shape mood without giving away the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor offers 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has established that a in-your-face, in-camera leaning method can feel deluxe on a middle budget. Look for a grime-caked summer horror rush that leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio sets two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, sustaining a reliable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is calling 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 charge to serve both franchise faithful and fresh viewers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign pieces around mythos, and practical creature work, elements that can increase premium this website format interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by rigorous craft and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus has already set the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is glowing.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s horror titles shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both FOMO and subscriber lifts in the after-window. Prime Video balances licensed films with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in deep cuts, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and curated strips to lengthen the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps flexible about own-slate titles and festival buys, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and framing as events go-lives with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a curated basis. The platform has indicated interest to take on select projects with prestige directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 pipeline with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is clear: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, modernized for modern audio-visual craft. 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 flagged a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the late stretch.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, managing the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception allows. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using precision theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Balance of brands and weblink originals

By count, 2026 tips toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness legacy awareness. The caveat, as ever, is overexposure. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is bringing forward character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a European tilt from a emerging director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries deliver oxygen. 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, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the configuration is assuring enough to build pre-sales and early previews.

Recent-year comps outline the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not hamper a parallel release from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, auteur craft horror exceeded expectations in PLF. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they shift POV 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 back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to continue assets in field without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The creative meetings behind this slate telegraph a continued lean toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights unease and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in trade spotlights and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a teaser that withholds plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at gross-out texture, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta pivot that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster realization and design, which are ideal for convention floor stunts and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that highlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in big rooms.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. Universal’s 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 macro-brand pushes. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late winter and spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. 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 moved through premium slots.

Late-season stretch leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a bridge slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a minimalist tease strategy and limited teasers that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s algorithmic partner becomes something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: tone-first game 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 fight to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic shifts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to fear, founded on Cronin’s tactile craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 household haunting tale that mediates the fear via a kid’s uneven POV. Rating: rating pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: major-studio and headline-actor led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that targets present-day genre chatter and true crime fixations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: production booked 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 ignites, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new family entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A new start designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and ancient menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces shape this lineup. First, production that eased or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage turnkey scare beats from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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

The search for sleepers 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 press those advantages. 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. 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.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, 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 fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, audio design, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, filmmaker 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep the secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.