Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons primeval malevolence, a bone chilling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on premium platforms

An frightening spiritual shockfest from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primeval fear when newcomers become victims in a dark trial. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking depiction of living through and timeless dread that will alter genre cinema this fall. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and emotionally thick screenplay follows five teens who are stirred caught in a wilderness-bound structure under the malevolent manipulation of Kyra, a young woman haunted by a legendary Old Testament spirit. Get ready to be enthralled by a filmic venture that combines gut-punch terror with biblical origins, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a classic tradition in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is twisted when the entities no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather from their core. This echoes the most sinister element of the victims. The result is a intense identity crisis where the conflict becomes a merciless tug-of-war between innocence and sin.


In a bleak wilderness, five adults find themselves caught under the malicious presence and possession of a shadowy figure. As the youths becomes unresisting to evade her rule, marooned and attacked by forces impossible to understand, they are made to confront their core terrors while the moments unforgivingly ticks onward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and teams erode, prompting each protagonist to evaluate their character and the idea of freedom of choice itself. The consequences climb with every short lapse, delivering a chilling narrative that merges occult fear with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to tap into instinctual horror, an entity before modern man, influencing human fragility, and challenging a entity that peels away humanity when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra demanded embodying something more primal than sorrow. She is in denial until the demon emerges, and that change is deeply unsettling because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for on-demand beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering households around the globe can get immersed in this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to scare fans abroad.


Do not miss this unforgettable ride through nightmares. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to explore these terrifying truths about our species.


For teasers, behind-the-scenes content, and insider scoops directly from production, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s decisive shift: 2025 U.S. Slate blends Mythic Possession, underground frights, plus franchise surges

Beginning with survival horror grounded in scriptural legend as well as legacy revivals paired with acutely observed indies, 2025 is shaping up as the genre’s most multifaceted plus carefully orchestrated year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios hold down the year with familiar IP, in parallel platform operators load up the fall with fresh voices in concert with legend-coded dread. Meanwhile, the artisan tier is propelled by the kinetic energy of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween holding the peak, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner fires the first shot with a confident swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. targeting mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Guided by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and those signature textures resurface: nostalgic menace, trauma explicitly handled, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, stretches the animatronic parade, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It drops in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a sealed box body horror arc with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale with Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Shaped 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 chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No IP hangover. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

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 posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Lines: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens 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, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to 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.

What to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. 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 balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching terror slate: brand plays, Originals, together with A busy Calendar optimized for frights

Dek The current genre slate crams right away with a January wave, before it rolls through midyear, and pushing into the holiday stretch, marrying series momentum, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. Studios and streamers are focusing on cost discipline, theatrical leads, and viral-minded pushes that shape genre titles into cross-demo moments.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has turned into the steady lever in annual schedules, a corner that can lift when it catches and still buffer the risk when it does not. After the 2023 year proved to executives that disciplined-budget chillers can lead cultural conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where returns and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is demand for multiple flavors, from ongoing IP entries to one-and-done originals that resonate abroad. The sum for 2026 is a run that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with mapped-out bands, a mix of known properties and fresh ideas, and a re-energized strategy on exclusive windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Distribution heads claim the space now operates like a swing piece on the slate. Horror can open on nearly any frame, provide a simple premise for previews and short-form placements, and outperform with audiences that show up on preview nights and keep coming through the subsequent weekend if the release lands. Exiting a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 setup shows belief in that playbook. The calendar commences with a stacked January corridor, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a September to October window that flows toward the fright window and into the next week. The calendar also highlights the stronger partnership of indie arms and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and scale up at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is brand strategy across linked properties and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just turning out another follow-up. They are looking to package story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that telegraphs a tonal shift or a casting choice that binds a new entry to a classic era. At the meanwhile, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into practical craft, real effects and location-forward worlds. That interplay affords the 2026 slate a healthy mix of home base and surprise, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount plants an early flag with two big-ticket entries that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a return-to-roots character-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the authorial approach telegraphs a roots-evoking strategy without recycling the last two entries’ sibling arc. A campaign is expected rooted in classic imagery, early character teases, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will go after large awareness through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick redirects to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three distinct lanes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is elegant, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that turns into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a busy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise uncanny live moments and short reels that interweaves romance and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a final title to become an headline beat closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are framed as event films, with a opaque teaser and a second wave of trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot offers Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has long shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven mix can feel cinematic on a efficient spend. Expect a splatter summer horror blast that pushes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio lines up two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a consistent supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is marketing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both diehards and newcomers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around setting detail, and creature work, elements that can accelerate premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and dialect, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Digital strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal titles flow to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that elevates both FOMO and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in deep cuts, using prominent placements, horror hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on lifetime take. Netflix retains agility about Netflix films and festival acquisitions, locking in horror entries on shorter runways and elevating as drops launches with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a paired of tailored theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a curated basis. The platform has indicated interest to purchase select projects with acclaimed directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the this page original a cult classic, modernized for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday frame to go wider. That positioning has been successful for auteur horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception prompts. Be ready for 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 precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By weight, 2026 leans toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The trade-off, as ever, is staleness. The standing approach is to present each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is centering character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a Francophone tone from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is known enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years illuminate the strategy. In 2023, a theater-first model that maintained windows did not obstruct a day-date move from hitting when the brand was sticky. In 2024, precision craft horror hit big in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, builds a path for marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind the 2026 slate suggest a continued tilt toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-effects sensibility 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 bolstering tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature work and production design, which lend themselves to convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel irresistible. Look for trailers that spotlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that sing on PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is stacked. 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 atmospheric change-up amid headline IP. The month finishes 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 meaningful, but the mix of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Pre-summer months build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big movies Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Project briefs

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 oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. 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 bereaved man’s machine mate grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a changing 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 unyielding boss fight to survive on a isolated island as the power balance inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting setup that teases the fright of a child’s wobbly read. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes current genre trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: production booked for fall 2025. 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 bursts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a unlucky family caught in older hauntings. Rating: to be announced. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: TBD. Production: ongoing. 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-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why this year, why now

Three operational forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or rearranged in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate shareable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where midrange-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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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 cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, soundscape, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the screams sell the seats.