Antediluvian Evil Stirs in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

An bone-chilling otherworldly fright fest from literary architect / director Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primordial evil when passersby become puppets in a hellish ritual. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing account of staying alive and timeless dread that will revamp the horror genre this spooky time. Created by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and tone-heavy film follows five lost souls who find themselves sealed in a cut-off cabin under the hostile influence of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old holy text monster. Steel yourself to be absorbed by a theatrical venture that merges soul-chilling terror with timeless legends, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a well-established concept in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is radically shifted when the malevolences no longer originate from beyond, but rather from their core. This depicts the most primal facet of all involved. The result is a harrowing internal warfare where the conflict becomes a intense conflict between purity and corruption.


In a haunting backcountry, five adults find themselves sealed under the dark aura and curse of a mysterious person. As the team becomes helpless to reject her manipulation, cut off and hunted by evils mind-shattering, they are made to deal with their emotional phantoms while the moments without pause moves toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease mounts and links fracture, requiring each cast member to contemplate their being and the idea of autonomy itself. The cost climb with every second, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that blends paranormal dread with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to draw upon primitive panic, an force older than civilization itself, working through inner turmoil, and questioning a darkness that dismantles free will when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra involved tapping into something deeper than fear. She is blind until the haunting manifests, and that evolution is soul-crushing because it is so raw.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing streamers worldwide can witness this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first preview, which has received over thousands of viewers.


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


Avoid skipping this gripping path of possession. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to acknowledge these ghostly lessons about existence.


For previews, set experiences, and announcements from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across platforms and visit the official website.





Today’s horror Turning Point: 2025 for genre fans U.S. rollouts braids together legend-infused possession, independent shockers, plus brand-name tremors

Across survival horror steeped in mythic scripture and stretching into franchise returns together with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is emerging as the most dimensioned plus intentionally scheduled year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. leading studios set cornerstones with familiar IP, even as platform operators flood the fall with emerging auteurs set against primordial unease. In parallel, the artisan tier is riding the carry from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are calculated, which means 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

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

The majors are assertive. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s distribution arm fires the first shot with a risk-forward move: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Steered by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson again directs, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retrograde shiver, trauma in the foreground, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The stakes escalate here, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It bows in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streamer Exclusives: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror chamber piece pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. 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.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

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 reads as sharp positioning. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy IP: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

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

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new chiller year to come: next chapters, Originals, in tandem with A jammed Calendar aimed at Scares

Dek: The current genre cycle stacks immediately with a January pile-up, after that runs through the mid-year, and deep into the festive period, fusing brand heft, new voices, and shrewd counterplay. Studios and streamers are doubling down on lean spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-fueled campaigns that frame these pictures into cross-demo moments.

How the genre looks for 2026

The field has turned into the sturdy lever in programming grids, a vertical that can break out when it hits and still safeguard the losses when it falls short. After 2023 showed executives that low-to-mid budget chillers can galvanize the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and word-of-mouth wins. The energy extended into 2025, where returns and critical darlings confirmed there is space for many shades, from legacy continuations to standalone ideas that carry overseas. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that feels more orchestrated than usual across the industry, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of marquee IP and untested plays, and a re-energized priority on release windows that feed downstream value on paid VOD and streaming.

Studio leaders note the space now works like a flex slot on the calendar. Horror can launch on virtually any date, provide a simple premise for spots and short-form placements, and exceed norms with audiences that turn out on Thursday previews and maintain momentum through the next weekend if the entry works. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan signals comfort in that setup. The slate commences with a thick January block, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that extends to the fright window and into post-Halloween. The calendar also reflects the expanded integration of boutique distributors and digital platforms that can launch in limited release, fuel WOM, and expand at the sweet spot.

A notable top-line trend is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and storied titles. Big banners are not just producing another continuation. They are moving to present lineage with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that conveys a recalibrated tone or a casting move that reconnects a latest entry to a first wave. At the alongside this, the creative teams behind the top original plays are favoring hands-on technique, special makeup and concrete locations. That pairing yields 2026 a confident blend of trust and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount leads early with two centerpiece releases 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 center, steering it as both a passing of the torch and a heritage-centered character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture suggests a classic-referencing mode without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Count on a promo wave rooted in brand visuals, character previews, and a two-beat trailer plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will chase wide buzz through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever rules horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete entries. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is simple, tragic, and concept-forward: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that evolves into a lethal partner. The date locates it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to replay uncanny live moments and snackable content that interlaces companionship and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a proper title to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as event films, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween runway offers Universal room to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has established that a raw, on-set effects led style can feel deluxe on a moderate cost. Expect a red-band summer horror shot that embraces global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio places two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, preserving a dependable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart 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 explicit mandate to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build assets around environmental design, and practical creature work, elements that can amplify PLF interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on meticulous craft and historical speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus Features has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is favorable.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform windowing in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s releases head to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a cadence that boosts both launch urgency and sub growth in the late-window. Prime Video combines licensed titles with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using editorial spots, genre hubs, and featured rows to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about internal projects and festival buys, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and eventizing arrivals with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a tiered of selective theatrical runs and swift platform pivots that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a title-by-title basis. The have a peek at these guys platform has demonstrated openness to invest in select projects with name filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation heats up.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 runway with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, updated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday corridor to widen. That positioning has served the company well for auteur horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using mini theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, 2026 skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit fan equity. The concern, as ever, is staleness. The go-to fix is to pitch each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the deal build is steady enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years frame the plan. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not stop a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror exceeded expectations in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, enables marketing to link the films through character and theme and to continue assets in field without extended gaps.

How the films are being made

The filmmaking conversations behind this year’s genre hint at a continued preference for tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that spotlights texture and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in feature stories and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that keeps plot minimal, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-aware reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that elevate fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is loaded. 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 moody palate cleanser amid heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the mix of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Q1 into Q2 tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April news 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once weblink the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited advance reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s virtual companion escalates into something lethally affectionate. 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: aura-driven 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 demanding boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance swivels and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to horror, rooted in Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 household haunting narrative that interrogates the panic of a child’s tricky POV. Rating: pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A spoof revival that satirizes hot-button genre motifs and true crime fervors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a unlucky family snared by old terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A fresh restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 primal menace. Rating: TBD. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or rearranged in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and leaner 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify repeatable beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, offering breathing room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will jostle across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first 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 cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sound, and cinematography 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 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand power where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.