Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a hair raising feature, launching October 2025 across top streaming platforms

One bone-chilling otherworldly nightmare movie from narrative craftsman / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an archaic horror when drifters become puppets in a devilish conflict. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing tale of endurance and mythic evil that will revamp the fear genre this autumn. Directed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and cinematic thriller follows five figures who emerge stuck in a remote cabin under the malignant dominion of Kyra, a mysterious girl inhabited by a timeless holy text monster. Ready yourself to be hooked by a cinematic event that harmonizes bodily fright with folklore, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a classic fixture in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is redefined when the dark entities no longer originate from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This marks the grimmest corner of the players. The result is a relentless emotional conflict where the tension becomes a unyielding battle between divinity and wickedness.


In a remote backcountry, five figures find themselves stuck under the fiendish presence and domination of a obscure figure. As the team becomes paralyzed to withstand her influence, abandoned and pursued by unknowns ungraspable, they are confronted to wrestle with their core terrors while the time without pause draws closer toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and relationships implode, requiring each character to contemplate their values and the philosophy of autonomy itself. The cost accelerate with every tick, delivering a horror experience that combines occult fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dig into deep fear, an darkness older than civilization itself, manifesting in inner turmoil, and confronting a entity that tests the soul when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra needed manifesting something beyond human emotion. She is unseeing until the spirit seizes her, and that metamorphosis is gut-wrenching because it is so raw.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving watchers anywhere can watch this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first trailer, which has received over notable views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, extending the thrill to international horror buffs.


Do not miss this bone-rattling descent into hell. Watch *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to experience these nightmarish insights about human nature.


For exclusive trailers, filmmaker commentary, and news from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursed across platforms and visit the official digital haunt.





American horror’s Turning Point: 2025 across markets domestic schedule weaves primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, in parallel with tentpole growls

From last-stand terror infused with primordial scripture and stretching into IP renewals as well as focused festival visions, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted together with carefully orchestrated year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Major studios set cornerstones by way of signature titles, concurrently streaming platforms crowd the fall with debut heat set against old-world menace. In parallel, horror’s indie wing is propelled by the kinetic energy from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the other windows are mapped with care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. Under director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Eli Craig directs starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer eases, the WB camp launches the swan song from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This time the stakes climb, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It posts in December, cornering year end horror.

Digital Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered 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. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Brands: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror comes roaring back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Projection: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The next chiller season: returning titles, non-franchise titles, paired with A brimming Calendar tailored for chills

Dek: The new scare season crams from the jump with a January bottleneck, subsequently extends through the summer months, and carrying into the holiday stretch, balancing name recognition, new voices, and well-timed counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are committing to responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that turn genre releases into water-cooler talk.

How the genre looks for 2026

This category has grown into the bankable option in studio calendars, a lane that can accelerate when it lands and still hedge the downside when it does not. After the 2023 year demonstrated to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted scare machines can steer audience talk, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind pushed into 2025, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is appetite for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to director-led originals that translate worldwide. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with purposeful groupings, a spread of legacy names and new pitches, and a reinvigorated focus on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on premium digital rental and home streaming.

Insiders argue the horror lane now behaves like a schedule utility on the calendar. The genre can launch on most weekends, furnish a sharp concept for promo reels and short-form placements, and overperform with crowds that line up on opening previews and stay strong through the next pass if the release delivers. Emerging from a work stoppage lag, the 2026 cadence signals assurance in that dynamic. The calendar begins with a loaded January band, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a September to October window that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The layout also reflects the tightening integration of indie distributors and streamers that can stage a platform run, stoke social talk, and roll out at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across linked properties and classic IP. Major shops are not just producing another installment. They are working to present lineage with a premium feel, whether that is a title treatment that flags a new vibe or a lead change that connects a new entry to a initial period. At the in tandem, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are championing hands-on technique, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That blend offers the 2026 slate a strong blend of known notes and newness, which is what works overseas.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two headline moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, framing it as both a baton pass and a return-to-roots character-centered film. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the story approach indicates a fan-service aware strategy without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive fueled by brand visuals, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm targeting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will spotlight. As a summer alternative, this one will drive four-quadrant chatter through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever owns the social talk that spring.

Universal has three unique lanes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that evolves into a killer companion. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to recreate strange in-person beats and brief clips that blurs affection and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are presented as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a follow-up trailer set that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor creates space for Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning mix can feel deluxe on a controlled budget. Expect a blood-and-grime summer horror surge that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio mounts two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, extending horror a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both franchise faithful and casuals. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around narrative world, and creature builds, elements that can fuel premium booking interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is robust.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform tactics for 2026 run on tested paths. The studio’s horror films flow to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ladder that optimizes both FOMO and subscriber lifts in the late-window. Prime Video pairs third-party pickups with worldwide buys and select theatrical runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in back-catalog play, using well-timed internal promotions, fright rows, and staff picks to stretch the tail on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival acquisitions, confirming horror entries near launch and making event-like drops with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a two-step of limited theatrical footprints and speedy platforming that translates talk to trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a selective basis. The platform has signaled readiness to board select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 corridor with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a big-screen first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through select festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has delivered for director-led genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception supports. Anticipate 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 in tandem, using boutique theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their audience.

Known brands versus new stories

By number, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on brand equity. The question, as ever, is overexposure. The preferred tactic is to market each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is spotlighting character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the cast-creatives package is comforting enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday previews.

Comparable trends from recent years announce the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not prevent a dual release from succeeding when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they angle differently and increase ambition. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, permits marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long breaks.

Craft and creative trends

The craft conversations behind this slate point to a continued tilt toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and drives shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta pivot that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature execution and sets, which match well with booth activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel necessary. Look for trailers that center disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid bigger brand plays. 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 credible, but the menu of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring prime the summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. 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 transitional slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited information drops that trade in concept over detail.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s AI companion turns into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss fight to survive on a far-flung island as the chain of command turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting story that frames the panic through a youth’s unreliable personal vantage. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-financed and star-fronted occult chiller.

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 parody reboot that targets contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. 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 spreads, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a young family linked to ancient dread. Rating: TBD. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward classic survival-horror tone over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: pending. Production: advancing. 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-accurate language and elemental menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces organize this lineup. First, production that paused or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and tighter 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, select scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where midrange-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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, 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 rhythm and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient screen counts, 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, aural design, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, original vision where it matters, 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, hold the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.