Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

One unnerving metaphysical shockfest from narrative craftsman / director Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an archaic nightmare when unfamiliar people become victims in a hellish trial. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking portrayal of survival and old world terror that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this scare season. Guided by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and tone-heavy film follows five unacquainted souls who find themselves confined in a isolated cabin under the sinister sway of Kyra, a mysterious girl haunted by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Be warned to be hooked by a audio-visual journey that harmonizes instinctive fear with spiritual backstory, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demonic control has been a iconic foundation in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is subverted when the malevolences no longer descend from an outside force, but rather deep within. This portrays the grimmest facet of the victims. The result is a edge-of-seat internal warfare where the tension becomes a perpetual fight between virtue and vice.


In a remote landscape, five adults find themselves sealed under the malicious influence and curse of a shadowy spirit. As the victims becomes incapable to withstand her rule, left alone and preyed upon by evils indescribable, they are cornered to reckon with their greatest panics while the doomsday meter harrowingly ticks onward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread rises and partnerships break, forcing each protagonist to contemplate their character and the notion of autonomy itself. The intensity rise with every second, delivering a nightmarish journey that combines demonic fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to evoke raw dread, an entity born of forgotten ages, working through psychological breaks, and highlighting a power that forces self-examination when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra asked for exploring something beyond human emotion. She is unaware until the demon emerges, and that metamorphosis is deeply unsettling because it is so close.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing viewers across the world can engage with this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its initial teaser, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, extending the thrill to a worldwide audience.


Experience this mind-warping spiral into evil. Watch *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to dive into these evil-rooted truths about mankind.


For director insights, filmmaker commentary, and press updates directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit youngandcursed.com.





The horror genre’s watershed moment: calendar year 2025 U.S. release slate blends Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, and Franchise Rumbles

Kicking off with life-or-death fear infused with old testament echoes and stretching into canon extensions alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 looks like the most stratified paired with deliberate year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. major banners lay down anchors through proven series, as SVOD players saturate the fall with fresh voices as well as ancient terrors. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is riding the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The fall stretch is the proving field, notably this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are surgical, accordingly 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, the Warner lot launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. 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 re boards, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma foregrounded, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The stakes escalate here, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, courting teens and the thirty something base. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

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. It is an astute call. No bloated mythology. No legacy baggage. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy IP: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror comes roaring back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Season Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. 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 hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The next fright calendar year ahead: brand plays, universe starters, and also A busy Calendar Built For chills

Dek The emerging scare year clusters up front with a January wave, subsequently stretches through June and July, and carrying into the year-end corridor, braiding franchise firepower, inventive spins, and calculated calendar placement. The big buyers and platforms are relying on right-sized spends, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that convert genre releases into all-audience topics.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable play in distribution calendars, a space that can break out when it connects and still limit the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that modestly budgeted pictures can lead the national conversation, the following year held pace with auteur-driven buzzy films and slow-burn breakouts. The carry fed into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays confirmed there is a market for many shades, from series extensions to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a lineup that is strikingly coherent across the field, with defined corridors, a blend of legacy names and new pitches, and a revived attention on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and OTT platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now operates like a plug-and-play option on the schedule. Horror can premiere on numerous frames, furnish a clear pitch for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and outpace with viewers that show up on Thursday previews and sustain through the follow-up frame if the film satisfies. Following a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration shows faith in that dynamic. The year launches with a heavy January window, then leans on spring and early summer for balance, while holding room for a October build that carries into Halloween and into early November. The map also shows the ongoing integration of boutique distributors and digital platforms that can launch in limited release, spark evangelism, and expand at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is franchise tending across shared IP webs and legacy IP. Major shops are not just greenlighting another chapter. They are seeking to position connection with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that conveys a refreshed voice or a talent selection that bridges a new entry to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the writer-directors behind the most anticipated originals are returning to on-set craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That convergence provides 2026 a smart balance of assurance and discovery, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount establishes early momentum with two prominent moves that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a throwback-friendly bent without replaying the last two entries’ sisters thread. Plan for a rollout leaning on iconic art, initial cast looks, and a trailer cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will drive wide appeal through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format making room for quick turns to whatever rules the social talk that spring.

Universal has three specific bets. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that shifts into a lethal partner. The date puts it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to renew odd public stunts and micro spots that mixes companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a proper title to become an earned moment closer to the debut look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as event films, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel elevated on a controlled budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror shock that pushes international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio rolls out two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, sustaining a consistent supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting as a ground-zero 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 explicit mandate to serve both devotees and fresh viewers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build marketing units around setting detail, and creature work, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror defined by historical precision and dialect, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. The Universal horror run shift to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a pacing that amplifies both FOMO and platform bumps in the tail. Prime Video pairs catalogue additions with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library curation, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and curated rows to extend momentum on aggregate take. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival snaps, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and eventizing drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful 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 evaluate horror on a situational basis. The platform has been willing to purchase select projects with accomplished filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation peaks.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a traditional cinema play for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the September weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday corridor to move out. That positioning has shown results for prestige horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a set 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 bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By count, 2026 is weighted toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to brand each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-tinted vision from a new voice. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the packaging is comforting enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

The last three-year set announce the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept streaming intact did not stop a parallel release from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, art-forward horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they angle differently 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 double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, builds a path for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The shop talk behind these films telegraph a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft spotlights before rolling out a teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta-horror reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature and environment design, which match well with convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel key. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that shine in top rooms.

How the year maps out

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid heavier IP. The month concludes 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 mix of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late Q1 and spring prepare summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Shoulder season into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a bridge slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited previews that lean on concept not plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and holiday 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 rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s virtual companion escalates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: atmospheric 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 hard-edged boss battle to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic inverts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting setup that refracts terror through a child’s flickering subjective lens. Rating: to be announced. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-crafted and toplined spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that riffs on in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fascinations. Rating: pending. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further this contact form stirs again, with a new household anchored to returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward classic survival-horror tone over action-forward bombast. Rating: pending. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: active. 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 language and elemental dread. Rating: to be announced. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine bite-size scare clips from test screenings, select scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 disciplined-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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first shock 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase 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 cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundscape, 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 Promising 2026

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the scares sell the seats.