Mythic Dread Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked horror thriller, bowing October 2025 across top streamers

An terrifying ghostly terror film from dramatist / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an age-old evil when unfamiliar people become victims in a devilish conflict. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking portrayal of overcoming and archaic horror that will resculpt the fear genre this ghoul season. Brought to life by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and claustrophobic screenplay follows five individuals who are stirred confined in a off-grid structure under the ominous power of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a ancient ancient fiend. Prepare to be gripped by a motion picture adventure that intertwines deep-seated panic with timeless legends, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a historical narrative in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is challenged when the beings no longer originate outside their bodies, but rather deep within. This depicts the grimmest part of every character. The result is a bone-chilling mind game where the drama becomes a intense fight between right and wrong.


In a forsaken woodland, five young people find themselves contained under the possessive rule and spiritual invasion of a shadowy entity. As the companions becomes incapable to deny her control, disconnected and pursued by powers ungraspable, they are obligated to wrestle with their darkest emotions while the doomsday meter unceasingly strikes toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension mounts and friendships fracture, pressuring each cast member to examine their existence and the foundation of decision-making itself. The tension climb with every instant, delivering a horror experience that combines spiritual fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to evoke pure dread, an evil rooted in antiquity, feeding on mental cracks, and exposing a power that dismantles free will when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra demanded embodying something far beyond human desperation. She is unaware until the entity awakens, and that evolution is shocking because it is so private.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for horror fans beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering fans from coast to coast can experience this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its release of trailer #1, which has received over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, presenting the nightmare to horror fans worldwide.


Mark your calendar for this unforgettable exploration of dread. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this launch day to explore these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For film updates, filmmaker commentary, and social posts from behind the lens, follow @YACFilm across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





Horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 in focus U.S. lineup melds old-world possession, underground frights, alongside legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from life-or-death fear saturated with old testament echoes all the way to IP renewals and focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into horror’s most layered along with intentionally scheduled year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios plant stakes across the year with franchise anchors, concurrently premium streamers front-load the fall with debut heat and archetypal fear. On the festival side, independent banners is buoyed by the echoes from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s schedule leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in an immediate now. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. targeting mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. From director Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early reactions hint at fangs.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. Pictures releases the last chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retro dread, trauma as text, with ghostly inner logic. The bar is raised this go, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, courting teens and the thirty something base. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Originals: No Budget, No Problem

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film 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. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Franchise Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in 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 Worth Watching

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror returns
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forecast: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. 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.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new genre calendar year ahead: continuations, fresh concepts, paired with A jammed Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek The current genre slate crowds from the jump with a January logjam, from there extends through summer corridors, and far into the December corridor, fusing name recognition, untold stories, and tactical alternatives. The major players are prioritizing right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and short-form initiatives that shape these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This category has emerged as the most reliable option in studio calendars, a genre that can break out when it hits and still limit the exposure when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that responsibly budgeted entries can drive the national conversation, the following year held pace with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The energy fed into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays proved there is appetite for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that scale internationally. The aggregate for 2026 is a slate that is strikingly coherent across the field, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of familiar brands and untested plays, and a sharpened strategy on cinema windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and streaming.

Executives say the space now behaves like a wildcard on the release plan. Horror can roll out on many corridors, supply a simple premise for trailers and vertical videos, and exceed norms with moviegoers that appear on previews Thursday and stick through the week two if the feature pays off. After a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm reflects certainty in that model. The calendar launches with a heavy January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while making space for a late-year stretch that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and past the holiday. The arrangement also shows the tightening integration of boutique distributors and home platforms that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and broaden at the strategic time.

A further high-level trend is brand curation across unified worlds and long-running brands. The studios are not just mounting another entry. They are seeking to position connection with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests useful reference a re-angled tone or a lead change that links a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the creative teams behind the most anticipated originals are favoring tactile craft, physical gags and concrete locations. That pairing offers the 2026 slate a confident blend of familiarity and discovery, which is how the films export.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight projects that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the artistic posture signals a roots-evoking bent without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive leaning on classic imagery, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever tops the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three separate projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tight, melancholic, and big-hook: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that mutates into a killer companion. The date positions it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to renew uncanny live moments and short reels that hybridizes devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a title reveal to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele titles are marketed as marquee events, with a opaque teaser and a second wave of trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-month date lets the studio to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has established that a in-your-face, practical-first execution can feel prestige on a disciplined budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror charge that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio mounts two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is calling a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both core fans and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around setting detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify PLF interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. The Universal horror run flow to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a stair-step that elevates both FOMO and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video balances licensed content with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to sustain interest on lifetime take. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival snaps, finalizing horror entries on shorter runways and framing as events debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a staged of focused cinema runs and swift platform pivots that converts WOM to subscribers. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a per-project basis. The platform has indicated interest to pick up select projects with top-tier auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation swells.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 corridor with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is no-nonsense: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, reimagined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a cinema-first plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the December frame to move out. That positioning has proved effective for filmmaker-driven genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using limited runs to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By number, 2026 leans in favor of the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on cultural cachet. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to market each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is underscoring character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a European tilt from a new voice. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed 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 the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the deal build is anchored enough to build pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Past-three-year patterns illuminate the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept streaming intact did not deter a dual release from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through character web and themes and to keep assets alive without long gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The craft conversations behind 2026 horror telegraph a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that elevates atmosphere and fear rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and technical spotlights before rolling out a first look that elevates tone over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and produces shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-referential reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which are ideal for fan conventions and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that accent razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that benefit on big speakers.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. Universal’s 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 somber counterpoint amid heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the spread of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

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

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Back half into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a transitional slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a opaque tease strategy and limited plot reveals that put concept first.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s virtual companion mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. imp source Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss push to survive on a cut-off island as the chain of command reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

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 re-envisioning that returns the monster to horror, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 family-home haunting piece that interrogates the panic of a child’s tricky perceptions. Rating: forthcoming. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-built and name-above-title 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 skewers modern genre fads and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites erupts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new family entangled with older hauntings. Rating: pending. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

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

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and primal menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 and why now

Three workable forces inform this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify meme-ready beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth factor is programming math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will jostle across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can leverage 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 come in under $40–$50 million, 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, 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 pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound, and imagery 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is recognizable IP where it plays, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.