Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

A unnerving spiritual fear-driven tale from cinematographer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic terror when foreigners become conduits in a hellish maze. Premiering October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing depiction of overcoming and timeless dread that will resculpt genre cinema this cool-weather season. Produced by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie feature follows five characters who find themselves isolated in a far-off house under the oppressive power of Kyra, a haunted figure possessed by a biblical-era Old Testament spirit. Get ready to be shaken by a visual event that integrates intense horror with mythic lore, premiering on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a classic fixture in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is reversed when the presences no longer develop from elsewhere, but rather within themselves. This portrays the shadowy dimension of every character. The result is a psychologically brutal internal warfare where the plotline becomes a unyielding clash between virtue and vice.


In a bleak landscape, five figures find themselves imprisoned under the sinister aura and haunting of a unknown entity. As the characters becomes submissive to deny her command, exiled and tracked by evils unfathomable, they are forced to stand before their darkest emotions while the clock mercilessly draws closer toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust grows and teams break, demanding each person to scrutinize their core and the concept of volition itself. The threat amplify with every heartbeat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that blends paranormal dread with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to evoke basic terror, an entity born of forgotten ages, manipulating our fears, and dealing with a force that tests the soul when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant channeling something unfamiliar to reason. She is ignorant until the takeover begins, and that turn is deeply unsettling because it is so emotional.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing subscribers anywhere can face this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first trailer, which has received over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, taking the terror to international horror buffs.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable fall into madness. Join *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to witness these evil-rooted truths about inner darkness.


For exclusive trailers, behind-the-scenes content, and news from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across media channels and visit our horror hub.





Horror’s Turning Point: 2025 across markets U.S. release slate Mixes legend-infused possession, indie terrors, and IP aftershocks

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare steeped in legendary theology and onward to canon extensions together with focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned along with deliberate year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. the big studios bookend the months with familiar IP, in parallel streaming platforms prime the fall with discovery plays in concert with archetypal fear. On another front, independent banners is riding the afterglow of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

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

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal banner sets the tone with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. timed for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer fades, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: vintage toned fear, trauma in the foreground, along with eerie supernatural rules. The bar is raised this go, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It drops in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror chamber piece featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story featuring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, 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 terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It looks like sharp programming. No overweight mythology. No sequel clutter. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Heritage Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

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

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Key Trends

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

What’s Next: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The coming 2026 chiller calendar year ahead: returning titles, filmmaker-first projects, paired with A stacked Calendar calibrated for nightmares

Dek The upcoming scare calendar loads from day one with a January logjam, subsequently stretches through June and July, and pushing into the holidays, mixing name recognition, novel approaches, and tactical counterprogramming. The big buyers and platforms are relying on lean spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and shareable marketing that shape these releases into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has become the predictable move in annual schedules, a segment that can accelerate when it resonates and still safeguard the drag when it falls short. After the 2023 year signaled to leaders that disciplined-budget fright engines can drive mainstream conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam extended into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and elevated films highlighted there is space for several lanes, from franchise continuations to original one-offs that translate worldwide. The upshot for 2026 is a calendar that seems notably aligned across the field, with planned clusters, a harmony of household franchises and new concepts, and a refocused eye on exhibition windows that increase tail monetization on paid VOD and streaming.

Planners observe the category now acts as a flex slot on the distribution slate. The genre can open on most weekends, provide a sharp concept for promo reels and vertical videos, and outstrip with fans that come out on advance nights and return through the sophomore frame if the film pays off. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence shows comfort in that approach. The slate starts with a busy January run, then taps spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a autumn stretch that pushes into the Halloween corridor and past Halloween. The program also illustrates the greater integration of specialized imprints and home platforms that can platform a title, generate chatter, and go nationwide at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is brand curation across interlocking continuities and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just mounting another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a heightened moment, whether that is a typeface approach that indicates a fresh attitude or a casting pivot that links a incoming chapter to a first wave. At the very same time, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are celebrating in-camera technique, physical gags and specific settings. That fusion produces 2026 a vital pairing of assurance and newness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile entries that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, marketing it as both a succession moment and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a legacy-leaning campaign without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push built on brand visuals, character previews, and a trailer cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will drive mainstream recognition through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever tops pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated lanes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that shifts into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to renew uncanny live moments and short reels that fuses devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up 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 slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a branding reveal to become an headline beat closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. His projects are branded as auteur events, with a teaser that reveals little and a subsequent trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend lets the studio to command 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, practical-first mix can feel top-tier on a moderate cost. Look for a hard-R summer horror jolt that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is marketing as 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 focus to serve both core fans and newcomers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around mythos, and creature work, elements that can fuel format premiums and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by rigorous craft and textual fidelity, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s releases window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ordering that amplifies both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances library titles with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using editorial spots, fright rows, and programmed rows to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about original films and festival buys, timing horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of precision releases and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, modernized for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception merits. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using boutique theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By skew, the 2026 slate leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate fan equity. The challenge, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is centering character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-tinted vision from a ascendant talent. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is comforting enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Comparable trends from recent years outline the logic. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a day-date move from performing when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries telegraph 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 reinforces the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that leans on unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and technical spotlights before rolling out a teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-referential reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster aesthetics and world-building, which favor booth activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel key. Look for trailers that foreground disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that explode in larger rooms.

Release calendar have a peek at these guys overview

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 gloomy counterbalance amid heftier brand moves. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth holds.

Late Q1 and spring load in summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a early fall window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a slow-reveal plan and limited plot reveals that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card spend.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s virtual companion evolves into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: gothic-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 unyielding boss try to survive on a rugged island as the hierarchy swivels and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

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 nightmare, rooted in Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 residential haunting piece that twists the unease of a child’s unreliable perceptions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: locked. Positioning: major-studio and name-above-title haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that lampoons today’s horror trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 surges, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family bound to ancient dread. Rating: pending. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survivalist horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 historical diction and raw menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the moment is 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical 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 drops. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can control a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where lower and mid-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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal 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 chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand gravity where needed, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.