Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on premium platforms

This frightening paranormal suspense story from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an archaic force when unrelated individuals become pawns in a fiendish game. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing account of struggle and age-old darkness that will transform terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Helmed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and tone-heavy film follows five teens who arise locked in a wooded wooden structure under the dark manipulation of Kyra, a possessed female controlled by a legendary ancient fiend. Anticipate to be absorbed by a audio-visual ride that harmonizes bone-deep fear with ancient myths, arriving on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a recurring fixture in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is turned on its head when the forces no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather internally. This mirrors the darkest part of the victims. The result is a riveting cognitive warzone where the story becomes a brutal fight between good and evil.


In a remote terrain, five figures find themselves sealed under the unholy presence and grasp of a secretive being. As the companions becomes vulnerable to escape her grasp, isolated and followed by presences unimaginable, they are obligated to confront their emotional phantoms while the countdown without pause draws closer toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension surges and associations break, prompting each soul to reflect on their true nature and the principle of autonomy itself. The cost grow with every second, delivering a chilling narrative that merges mystical fear with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to uncover pure dread, an entity before modern man, operating within fragile psyche, and confronting a entity that forces self-examination when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant channeling something far beyond human desperation. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that change is deeply unsettling because it is so raw.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing viewers across the world can get immersed in this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first preview, which has earned over 100,000 views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Join this bone-rattling ride through nightmares. Face *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to dive into these unholy truths about the psyche.


For featurettes, behind-the-scenes content, and insider scoops from the story's source, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across media channels and visit our horror hub.





American horror’s pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 U.S. release slate braids together myth-forward possession, festival-born jolts, paired with franchise surges

From grit-forward survival fare drawn from primordial scripture all the way to IP renewals set beside acutely observed indies, 2025 appears poised to be the most stratified and calculated campaign year in the past ten years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles with franchise anchors, concurrently digital services prime the fall with unboxed visions and primordial unease. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is catching the afterglow from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are surgical, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s slate sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Under director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Eli Craig directs including 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. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, the WB camp rolls out the capstone from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retrograde shiver, trauma as text, with ghostly inner logic. This time, the stakes are raised, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It drops in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Offerings: Small budgets, sharp fangs

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

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn with Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Written and directed 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 dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a clever angle. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

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

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

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The next terror slate: continuations, original films, paired with A jammed Calendar designed for chills

Dek: The new scare season crams early with a January glut, after that rolls through the warm months, and running into the holidays, combining series momentum, untold stories, and tactical counterplay. Studios and platforms are betting on responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and buzz-forward plans that position these offerings into broad-appeal conversations.

How the genre looks for 2026

The horror marketplace has solidified as the consistent tool in release plans, a pillar that can lift when it breaks through and still protect the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year proved to buyers that efficiently budgeted shockers can steer the national conversation, the following year sustained momentum with filmmaker-forward plays and word-of-mouth wins. The run flowed into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects underscored there is a lane for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to non-IP projects that translate worldwide. The end result for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across distributors, with purposeful groupings, a harmony of known properties and novel angles, and a refocused priority on cinema windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium rental and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the category now acts as a swing piece on the schedule. Horror can open on numerous frames, supply a clean hook for marketing and social clips, and lead with patrons that show up on previews Thursday and keep coming through the next pass if the movie connects. On the heels of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup reflects faith in that equation. The slate begins with a front-loaded January band, then targets spring into early summer for audience offsets, while reserving space for a September to October window that pushes into the fright window and into November. The arrangement also illustrates the continuing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can launch in limited release, grow buzz, and widen at the sweet spot.

A notable top-line trend is legacy care across interlocking continuities and established properties. The studios are not just releasing another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a latest entry to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the high-profile originals are leaning into material texture, special makeup and location-forward worlds. That fusion affords the 2026 slate a confident blend of comfort and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile titles that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the lead, marketing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a classic-referencing angle without recycling the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, early character teases, and a tiered teaser plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reawakens 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 campaign lever the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after general-audience talk through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format enabling quick turns to whatever leads the discourse that spring.

Universal has three defined lanes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is efficient, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man implements an AI companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to replay viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that melds companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a branding reveal to become an PR check my blog pop closer to the debut look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as auteur events, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has proven that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel high-value on a middle budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror hit that maximizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio mounts two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, extending a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is billing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both loyalists and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can stoke premium format interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and period speech, this time set against lycan legends. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s horror titles window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a cadence that fortifies both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global originals and targeted theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using editorial spots, fright rows, and featured rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival pickups, dating horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of targeted theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is uncomplicated: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, modernized for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, escorting the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday corridor to move out. That positioning has worked well for prestige horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception drives. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using precision theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchise entries versus originals

By share, 2026 leans toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use marquee value. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to frame each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add air. 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, casts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the cast-creatives package is recognizable enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set clarify the approach. In 2023, a cinema-first model that kept streaming intact did not stop a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was powerful. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, permits marketing to interlace chapters through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets in-market without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre indicate a continued move toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that spotlights mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a initial teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work and world-building, which play well in convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years his comment is here Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tone spread opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Pre-summer months set up the summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can deliver 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 run their PLF course.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited plot reveals that put concept first.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion turns into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 hard-edged boss try to survive on a rugged island as the power balance of power inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s practical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting tale that refracts terror through a kid’s flickering POV. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: finished. Positioning: major-studio and celebrity-led paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that needles current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: not yet rated. 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 erupts, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a fresh family entangled with old terrors. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: to be announced. Production: underway. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 primordial menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 variable, fall window probable.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three nuts-and-bolts forces shape this lineup. First, production that paused or re-sequenced in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 dumps. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

There is also the slotting calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will cluster across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 breakout hunt 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, 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 sustain heat and footfall 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 preview-night pops, 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 detail, soundscape, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand heft where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.