Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites antediluvian malevolence, a nightmare fueled supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across major platforms

An unnerving otherworldly suspense film from creator / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an timeless evil when foreigners become subjects in a supernatural struggle. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing account of resistance and age-old darkness that will remodel scare flicks this October. Realized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive feature follows five figures who are stirred sealed in a unreachable shelter under the dark control of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Brace yourself to be seized by a theatrical presentation that melds instinctive fear with biblical origins, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a classic theme in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is flipped when the presences no longer emerge outside the characters, but rather through their own souls. This echoes the most sinister dimension of every character. The result is a bone-chilling mental war where the intensity becomes a relentless tug-of-war between good and evil.


In a abandoned outland, five young people find themselves marooned under the ominous sway and control of a shadowy character. As the team becomes incapacitated to combat her command, isolated and attacked by creatures mind-shattering, they are cornered to deal with their greatest panics while the doomsday meter relentlessly moves toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease grows and teams erode, forcing each individual to rethink their being and the nature of decision-making itself. The tension mount with every passing moment, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that combines otherworldly suspense with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to uncover pure dread, an malevolence from ancient eras, manipulating our weaknesses, and questioning a entity that redefines identity when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra called for internalizing something unfamiliar to reason. She is blind until the possession kicks in, and that flip is bone-chilling because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audience access beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring customers from coast to coast can dive into this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has pulled in over six-figure audience.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, taking the terror to horror fans worldwide.


Make sure to see this bone-rattling trip into the unknown. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these terrifying truths about existence.


For cast commentary, set experiences, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit the official digital haunt.





Contemporary horror’s decisive shift: the year 2025 stateside slate melds biblical-possession ideas, art-house nightmares, and IP aftershocks

Spanning endurance-driven terror rooted in primordial scripture and onward to franchise returns and pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted as well as tactically planned year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. the big studios hold down the year with familiar IP, simultaneously premium streamers crowd the fall with new voices plus mythic dread. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is fueled by the backdraft from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium dread reemerges

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline sets the tone with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. timed for 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.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Guided by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. Pictures drops the final chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma foregrounded, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It lands in December, pinning the winter close.

Streamer Exclusives: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, 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 is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: 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 Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film 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. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No puffed out backstory. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

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

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: 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, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

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 assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 scare calendar year ahead: follow-ups, Originals, in tandem with A hectic Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The fresh scare slate clusters up front with a January glut, before it flows through midyear, and pushing into the winter holidays, fusing name recognition, creative pitches, and smart offsets. Distributors with platforms are committing to smart costs, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that transform these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This category has grown into the consistent play in release plans, a category that can scale when it performs and still protect the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 signaled to top brass that cost-conscious genre plays can galvanize audience talk, 2024 kept energy high with buzzy auteur projects and quiet over-performers. The momentum pushed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and awards-minded projects made clear there is space for varied styles, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that play globally. The combined impact for 2026 is a grid that shows rare alignment across companies, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of established brands and novel angles, and a tightened attention on release windows that power the aftermarket on PVOD and home streaming.

Marketers add the category now performs as a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can roll out on nearly any frame, generate a clear pitch for trailers and reels, and overperform with fans that line up on advance nights and maintain momentum through the subsequent weekend if the feature satisfies. Following a work stoppage lag, the 2026 configuration reflects confidence in that playbook. The slate launches with a weighty January stretch, then targets spring into early summer for genre counterpoints, while making space for a September to October window that pushes into All Hallows period and into the next week. The gridline also includes the continuing integration of specialty distributors and streaming partners that can develop over weeks, create conversation, and widen at the strategic time.

Another broad trend is legacy care across interlocking continuities and long-running brands. Major shops are not just releasing another chapter. They are moving to present lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a brandmark that flags a new vibe or a lead change that ties a next entry to a initial period. At the meanwhile, the creative teams behind the high-profile originals are embracing in-camera technique, practical gags and distinct locales. That pairing delivers 2026 a smart balance of home base and unexpected turns, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two front-of-slate bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the spine, framing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning relationship-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the authorial approach suggests a heritage-honoring strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave fueled by heritage visuals, character spotlights, and a promo sequence slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will feature. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt general-audience talk through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format making room for quick redirects to whatever leads the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is elegant, loss-driven, and commercial: a grieving man activates an digital partner that becomes a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to renew uncanny live moments and quick hits that interweaves devotion and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial promo. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are set up as auteur events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later creative that define feel without revealing the concept. The pre-Halloween slot offers Universal room to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has shown that a tactile, practical-first strategy can feel elevated on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror blast that emphasizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is selling as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both loyalists and newcomers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build promo materials around environmental design, and creature work, elements that can stoke large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

Where the platforms fit in

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s horror titles shift to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a tiered path that amplifies both FOMO and sub growth in the downstream. Prime Video continues to mix catalogue additions with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in deep cuts, using curated hubs, horror hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival additions, slotting horror entries tight to release and eventizing go-lives with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a hybrid of targeted cinema placements and fast windowing that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to acquire select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is straightforward: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception warrants. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By share, 2026 bends toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on cultural cachet. The risk, as ever, is brand erosion. The pragmatic answer is to market each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-tinted vision from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and visionary-led titles 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, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the configuration is assuring enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent comps help explain the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that observed windows did not preclude a dual release from performing when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror exceeded expectations in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. 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-film strategy, with chapters produced back-to-back, enables marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without dead zones.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films indicate a continued emphasis on tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that underscores mood and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to booth activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that underscore pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. SOULM8TE check my blog 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 atmospheric change-up amid larger brand plays. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the range of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Late Q1 and spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a minimalist tease strategy and limited previews that put concept first.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s virtual companion unfolds into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 prickly boss struggle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 fear, rooted in Cronin’s hands-on craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting scenario that filters its scares through a preteen’s wavering POV. Rating: to be announced. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that satirizes current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBD. Production: filming slated 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 bursts, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further extends again, with a different family linked to past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 period language and primordial menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a big-screen run before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why this year, why now

Three operational forces define this lineup. First, production that stalled or reshuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently news outpaced straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage clippable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where modest-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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer 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 flow and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your click to read more own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, audio design, and framing 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 Is Well Positioned

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.