Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 on leading streamers

This unnerving occult horror tale from screenwriter / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an long-buried malevolence when passersby become victims in a devilish maze. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking saga of resilience and forgotten curse that will resculpt genre cinema this cool-weather season. Produced by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and atmospheric tale follows five young adults who snap to sealed in a unreachable hideaway under the malevolent grip of Kyra, a troubled woman consumed by a prehistoric Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be gripped by a motion picture ride that unites bodily fright with spiritual backstory, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a mainstay motif in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is turned on its head when the beings no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather from their core. This illustrates the most hidden layer of these individuals. The result is a bone-chilling moral showdown where the events becomes a perpetual push-pull between virtue and vice.


In a wilderness-stricken wilderness, five adults find themselves stuck under the ominous presence and inhabitation of a haunted character. As the cast becomes vulnerable to fight her will, exiled and targeted by beings beyond comprehension, they are required to confront their inner horrors while the moments without pause strikes toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion rises and bonds implode, pushing each participant to question their being and the principle of liberty itself. The pressure surge with every beat, delivering a cinematic nightmare that combines otherworldly suspense with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to uncover primitive panic, an spirit from prehistory, embedding itself in our weaknesses, and testing a will that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra needed manifesting something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the demon emerges, and that turn is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—allowing households no matter where they are can experience this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its first trailer, which has gathered over 100K plays.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, spreading the horror to scare fans abroad.


Join this visceral descent into hell. Experience *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these terrifying truths about free will.


For featurettes, on-set glimpses, and press updates from behind the lens, follow @YACFilm across entertainment pages and visit our spooky domain.





Horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 cycle stateside slate blends myth-forward possession, underground frights, stacked beside tentpole growls

Running from survival horror drawn from old testament echoes and stretching into canon extensions paired with surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as the most textured as well as blueprinted year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios lock in tentpoles with franchise anchors, at the same time subscription platforms crowd the fall with debut heat alongside old-world menace. In the indie lane, the artisan tier is catching the backdraft from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are exacting, and 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

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

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Eli Craig directs anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, the WB camp rolls out the capstone from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: throwback unease, trauma in the foreground, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

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

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a smart play. No overinflated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

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

Long Running Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, 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. Marketed correctly, it could be 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 plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

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 such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. 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 forthcoming 2026 spook release year: brand plays, universe starters, alongside A brimming Calendar designed for screams

Dek: The arriving terror year clusters early with a January bottleneck, thereafter stretches through midyear, and continuing into the late-year period, blending name recognition, untold stories, and data-minded counterprogramming. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that shape these offerings into culture-wide discussion.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has shown itself to be the bankable lever in release plans, a pillar that can spike when it hits and still safeguard the risk when it fails to connect. After 2023 re-taught executives that cost-conscious shockers can steer the discourse, 2024 kept energy high with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam extended into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and awards-minded projects highlighted there is space for different modes, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that resonate abroad. The sum for 2026 is a schedule that is strikingly coherent across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a blend of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a sharpened commitment on box-office windows that power the aftermarket on premium home window and subscription services.

Insiders argue the space now functions as a utility player on the release plan. Horror can arrive on virtually any date, generate a grabby hook for trailers and platform-native cuts, and outperform with audiences that line up on Thursday nights and stick through the sophomore frame if the picture satisfies. Coming out of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 setup reflects faith in that dynamic. The year starts with a front-loaded January band, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that extends to spooky season and into the next week. The arrangement also illustrates the stronger partnership of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the precise moment.

A further high-level trend is franchise tending across shared universes and heritage properties. Distribution groups are not just pushing another follow-up. They are shaping as story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that signals a reframed mood or a casting choice that threads a new entry to a initial period. At the very same time, the auteurs behind the most watched originals are favoring on-set craft, makeup and prosthetics and site-specific worlds. That convergence produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of recognition and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline plays that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a memory-charged campaign without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with iconic art, early character teases, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counter-slot, this one will go after general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three clear releases. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that evolves into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with the Universal machine likely to recreate viral uncanny stunts and snackable content that melds companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele titles are presented as marquee events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween runway opens a lane to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has established that a visceral, on-set effects led method can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror charge that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, continuing a reliable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is selling as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both players and novices. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can stoke premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror centered on obsessive craft and period speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s horror titles window into copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ordering that fortifies both launch urgency and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video combines acquired titles with global pickups and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using well-timed internal promotions, Halloween hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on aggregate take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival deals, scheduling horror entries with shorter lead times and elevating as drops debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a tiered of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, updated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a cinema-first plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the late-season weeks.

Focus will favor the have a peek at these guys auteur track with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday frame to increase reach. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception encourages. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using mini theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Balance of brands and originals

By share, 2026 tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The concern, as ever, is overexposure. The go-to fix is to package each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is bringing forward character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is recognizable enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns outline the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a parallel release from delivering when the brand was potent. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they angle differently and stretch the story. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot in tandem, lets marketing to relate entries through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without lulls.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind these films suggest a continued lean toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers tone and tension rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a initial teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster aesthetics and world-building, which work nicely for convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is jammed. Universal’s 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 brooding contrast amid heavier IP. The month finishes 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 legit, but the tone spread lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Winter into spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces 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 grieving man’s artificial companion turns into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss try to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power flips and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: A-list survival chiller 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 from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, founded on Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 explores the panic of a child’s tricky read. Rating: not yet rated. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satirical comeback that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 detonates, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a another family linked to residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: to be announced. Production: proceeding. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 time-true diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the moment is 2026

Three workable forces define this lineup. First, production that paused or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify repeatable beats from test screenings, select scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

The slot calculus is real. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes 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 use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 sleeper-hit hunt 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, 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 own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound, and visual design 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, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand heft where it matters, 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.