Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An eerie otherworldly fright fest from scriptwriter / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primeval entity when outsiders become tokens in a satanic maze. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking episode of endurance and mythic evil that will reimagine genre cinema this cool-weather season. Crafted by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and shadowy story follows five figures who wake up trapped in a off-grid cabin under the malignant control of Kyra, a young woman consumed by a 2,000-year-old Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be captivated by a filmic venture that combines gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a historical pillar in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reimagined when the forces no longer form from external sources, but rather from within. This represents the darkest aspect of every character. The result is a harrowing inner struggle where the story becomes a relentless push-pull between divinity and wickedness.


In a bleak natural abyss, five adults find themselves confined under the ominous aura and control of a uncanny character. As the group becomes unresisting to combat her power, left alone and hunted by evils ungraspable, they are driven to encounter their darkest emotions while the clock relentlessly edges forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust swells and bonds disintegrate, pressuring each protagonist to question their identity and the nature of independent thought itself. The tension rise with every instant, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that blends supernatural terror with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to tap into pure dread, an entity rooted in antiquity, embedding itself in soul-level flaws, and challenging a spirit that dismantles free will when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra was about accessing something beneath mortal despair. She is uninformed until the haunting manifests, and that metamorphosis is soul-crushing because it is so personal.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for public screening beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving audiences worldwide can survive this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first preview, which has collected over strong viewer count.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, offering the tale to a worldwide audience.


Witness this visceral trip into the unknown. Stream *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to acknowledge these ghostly lessons about existence.


For exclusive trailers, behind-the-scenes content, and updates directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across platforms and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 American release plan blends old-world possession, festival-born jolts, paired with Franchise Rumbles

Spanning life-or-death fear saturated with legendary theology and stretching into legacy revivals as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be horror’s most layered and blueprinted year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. major banners lock in tentpoles through proven series, in parallel streaming platforms pack the fall with fresh voices as well as primordial unease. On another front, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are exacting, so 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline fires the first shot with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. set for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s pipeline delivers the closing chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. While the template is known, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retrograde shiver, trauma in the foreground, with ghostly inner logic. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The new chapter enriches the lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It bows in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a room scale body horror descent pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, 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 the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trend Lines

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

The Road Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The 2026 terror season: Sequels, filmmaker-first projects, as well as A busy Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek The current genre calendar stacks from day one with a January traffic jam, after that runs through summer corridors, and far into the December corridor, combining name recognition, new voices, and savvy counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are doubling down on right-sized spends, theatrical exclusivity first, and shareable marketing that turn these films into mainstream chatter.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This space has proven to be the predictable tool in programming grids, a category that can accelerate when it performs and still insulate the exposure when it does not. After 2023 demonstrated to top brass that low-to-mid budget scare machines can command social chatter, the following year kept energy high with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The momentum carried into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is a market for multiple flavors, from franchise continuations to director-led originals that translate worldwide. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the industry, with strategic blocks, a harmony of recognizable IP and untested plays, and a re-energized eye on box-office windows that increase tail monetization on premium home window and subscription services.

Buyers contend the space now behaves like a flex slot on the release plan. The genre can launch on almost any weekend, provide a quick sell for spots and shorts, and overperform with audiences that show up on first-look nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the movie works. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan shows belief in that equation. The slate kicks off with a loaded January block, then exploits spring through early summer for counterweight, while clearing room for a fall corridor that extends to All Hallows period and into November. The schedule also features the increasing integration of specialized imprints and streamers that can launch in limited release, create conversation, and go nationwide at the inflection point.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across ongoing universes and established properties. Major shops are not just turning out another return. They are moving to present story carry-over with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a casting pivot that binds a next film to a heyday. At the very same time, the helmers behind the most watched originals are championing tactile craft, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That combination yields 2026 a vital pairing of trust and surprise, which is what works overseas.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount leads early with two marquee bets that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the center, angling it as both a succession moment and a foundation-forward character-forward chapter. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture indicates a throwback-friendly approach without covering again the last two entries’ sibling arc. Expect a marketing push anchored in heritage visuals, early character teases, and a promo sequence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after general-audience talk through share-ready beats, his comment is here with the horror spoof format allowing quick turns to whatever leads horror talk that spring.

Universal has three defined lanes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that evolves into a killer companion. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s promo team likely to iterate on uncanny live moments and micro spots that fuses romance and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder 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 branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the debut look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s releases are branded as auteur events, with a teaser that reveals little and a next wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has long shown that a blood-soaked, practical-effects forward approach can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror rush that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio rolls out two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is describing as a reimagined 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 clearer mandate to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around world-building, and creature work, elements that can drive premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on immersive craft and language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus Features has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen 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 expands both FOMO and sign-up momentum in the post-theatrical. Prime Video continues to mix licensed titles with global acquisitions and small theatrical windows when the data signals it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in archive usage, using prominent placements, spooky hubs, and staff picks to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival grabs, slotting horror entries closer to drop and staging as events drops with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a hybrid of targeted theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will matter 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 selective basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to buy select projects with recognized filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly engagement when the genre conversation builds.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 runway with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is simple: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, elevated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, guiding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then working the year-end corridor to broaden. That positioning has shown results for director-led genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception warrants. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using limited runs to seed evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Balance of brands and originals

By skew, 2026 is weighted toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage cultural cachet. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to frame each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a continental coloration from a buzzed-about director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the bundle is assuring enough to accelerate early sales and first-night audiences.

Comps from the last three years announce the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not hamper a parallel release from delivering when the brand was trusted. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror rose in premium screens. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, permits marketing to link the films through character arcs and themes and to continue assets in field without long breaks.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The shop talk behind the 2026 entries foreshadow a continued turn toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that foregrounds tone and tension rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in trade spotlights and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which work nicely for convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that accent hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is stacked. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the spread of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect 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 finished their premium pass.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can win the holiday when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s artificial companion turns into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete 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 coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 unyielding boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power flips and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to terror, rooted in Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting scenario that filters its scares through a child’s shifting inner lens. Rating: pending. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that teases present-day genre chatter and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 breaks out, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a young family snared by past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survivalist horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. 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 era-accurate language and bone-deep menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 nuts-and-bolts forces frame this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. 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 placements. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will cluster across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 breakout hunt 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 use those gaps. 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, 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 preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, right-sized allotments, 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 materiality, acoustics, and cinematography 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is recognizable IP where it plays, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.