Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons primeval malevolence, a spine tingling feature, launching October 2025 across leading streamers

One frightening otherworldly fear-driven tale from storyteller / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient force when unfamiliar people become pawns in a satanic maze. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing depiction of living through and timeless dread that will alter genre cinema this harvest season. Produced by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and immersive tale follows five unacquainted souls who wake up stranded in a cut-off shelter under the sinister will of Kyra, a central character dominated by a ancient sacrosanct terror. Steel yourself to be hooked by a audio-visual event that unites deep-seated panic with legendary tales, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a legendary concept in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is redefined when the fiends no longer arise from an outside force, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the most hidden side of these individuals. The result is a psychologically brutal inner struggle where the suspense becomes a soul-crushing push-pull between virtue and vice.


In a forsaken natural abyss, five campers find themselves cornered under the possessive influence and control of a unknown female figure. As the characters becomes helpless to deny her dominion, cut off and hunted by powers inconceivable, they are forced to deal with their worst nightmares while the moments mercilessly moves toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread mounts and partnerships implode, requiring each individual to doubt their identity and the foundation of conscious will itself. The intensity escalate with every second, delivering a horror experience that merges supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to awaken ancestral fear, an threat that existed before mankind, feeding on our fears, and exposing a entity that erodes the self when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something darker than pain. She is insensitive until the invasion happens, and that transition is shocking because it is so intimate.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—allowing watchers no matter where they are can experience this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over a viral response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, presenting the nightmare to a worldwide audience.


Do not miss this life-altering spiral into evil. Stream *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to acknowledge these spiritual awakenings about our species.


For sneak peeks, production insights, and insider scoops from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit youngandcursed.com.





Today’s horror watershed moment: 2025 across markets U.S. lineup interlaces archetypal-possession themes, independent shockers, stacked beside series shake-ups

Running from life-or-death fear saturated with legendary theology and onward to series comebacks as well as cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is coalescing into the most dimensioned plus calculated campaign year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Major studios hold down the year with franchise anchors, concurrently subscription platforms saturate the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with ancestral chills. In the indie lane, the artisan tier is drafting behind the uplift from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, though in this cycle, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are methodical, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal banner begins the calendar with a big gambit: a modernized Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

By late summer, the WB camp sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Granted the structure is classic, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson resumes command, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: old school creep, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. The stakes escalate here, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The follow up digs further into canon, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It lands in December, buttoning the final window.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Then there is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

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. Written and helmed 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 dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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. That is a savvy move. No puffed out backstory. No series drag. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. 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. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror swings back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forward View: Autumn density and winter pivot

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. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The oncoming spook cycle: entries, non-franchise titles, together with A jammed Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The emerging terror season stacks from the jump with a January wave, and then carries through summer, and carrying into the festive period, fusing brand heft, inventive spins, and well-timed calendar placement. Studios with streamers are betting on efficient budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that pivot genre releases into mainstream chatter.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror marketplace has become the dependable lever in studio slates, a pillar that can lift when it catches and still hedge the drawdown when it under-delivers. After 2023 reassured leaders that responsibly budgeted entries can command the zeitgeist, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum moved into 2025, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers signaled there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a calendar that presents tight coordination across studios, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a renewed eye on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium rental and home streaming.

Studio leaders note the genre now acts as a swing piece on the rollout map. The genre can launch on most weekends, generate a easy sell for teasers and short-form placements, and outstrip with moviegoers that respond on preview nights and maintain momentum through the second weekend if the feature pays off. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan shows certainty in that playbook. The calendar kicks off with a heavy January schedule, then targets spring into early summer for genre counterpoints, while reserving space for a October build that reaches into Halloween and afterwards. The grid also features the greater integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and roll out at the inflection point.

A companion trend is brand curation across linked properties and heritage properties. Studios are not just rolling another installment. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that conveys a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a latest entry to a early run. At the simultaneously, the creative teams behind the marquee originals are doubling down on real-world builds, practical gags and site-specific worlds. That interplay delivers the 2026 slate a healthy mix of recognition and surprise, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two spotlight releases that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the heart, angling it as both a cross-generational handoff and a rootsy character-forward chapter. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture indicates a fan-service aware strategy without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive fueled by legacy iconography, initial cast looks, and a tease cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will stress. As a summer relief option, this one will pursue wide appeal through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick turns to whatever shapes the conversation that spring.

Universal has three discrete strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tidy, sorrow-tinged, and premise-first: a grieving man sets up an virtual partner that grows into a murderous partner. The date places it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to echo odd public stunts and quick hits that interlaces romance and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a proper title to become an PR pop closer to the first look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s pictures are treated as event films, with a teaser that holds back and a follow-up trailer set that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The prime October weekend gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, on-set effects led aesthetic can feel deluxe on a mid-range budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror jolt that embraces international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio sets two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is selling as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can increase large-format demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is robust.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s horror titles land on copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that boosts both first-week urgency and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video combines licensed content with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, Halloween hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries near their drops and framing as events rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has proven amenable to purchase select projects with award winners or headline-cast packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for monthly activity when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is uncomplicated: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, elevated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a big-screen first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception prompts. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using limited runs to jump-start evangelism that fuels their user base.

Balance of brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The risk, as ever, is viewer burnout. The go-to fix is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is spotlighting character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a continental coloration from a emerging director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the deal build is assuring enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday previews.

Recent-year comps help explain the model. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not foreclose a day-and-date experiment from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium formats. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they alter lens and scale the storytelling. 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 back-to-back, permits marketing to thread films through character spine and themes and to keep assets alive without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate indicate a continued emphasis on tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that emphasizes creep and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in trade spotlights and technical spotlights before rolling out a first look that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and generates shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta pivot that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature work and production design, which work nicely for fan-con activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that elevate disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. 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 macro-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word check over here of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a peekaboo tease plan and limited previews that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s AI companion turns into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss try to survive on a desolate island as the control dynamic inverts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s practical effects and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting chiller that leverages the dread of a child’s inconsistent perceptions. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-grade and toplined paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBA. Production: production booked for fall 2025. 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 flares, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a fresh family snared by lingering terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over action pyrotechnics. Rating: forthcoming. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: undetermined. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that stalled or reshuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, freeing space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 lean-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundcraft, 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.

2026, Ready To Roar

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is name recognition where it counts, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.