Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing Oct 2025 on top streamers

This eerie metaphysical fear-driven tale from cinematographer / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an long-buried malevolence when outsiders become conduits in a malevolent contest. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing journey of resilience and primeval wickedness that will revamp genre cinema this season. Directed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and immersive tale follows five unknowns who are stirred ensnared in a remote dwelling under the dark will of Kyra, a mysterious girl haunted by a prehistoric holy text monster. Brace yourself to be seized by a theatrical outing that intertwines bodily fright with spiritual backstory, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a time-honored tradition in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is inverted when the demons no longer appear beyond the self, but rather inside their minds. This portrays the grimmest shade of the group. The result is a gripping cognitive warzone where the intensity becomes a constant push-pull between divinity and wickedness.


In a remote natural abyss, five figures find themselves confined under the possessive rule and haunting of a elusive female figure. As the characters becomes unresisting to resist her curse, left alone and hunted by presences indescribable, they are made to deal with their inner horrors while the final hour ruthlessly moves toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease escalates and alliances implode, forcing each participant to question their essence and the idea of independent thought itself. The stakes climb with every beat, delivering a scare-fueled ride that blends otherworldly suspense with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to evoke elemental fright, an threat born of forgotten ages, filtering through fragile psyche, and questioning a entity that peels away humanity when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra involved tapping into something more primal than sorrow. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that turn is shocking because it is so personal.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving fans everywhere can dive into this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its intro video, which has garnered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, giving access to the movie to horror fans worldwide.


Make sure to see this gripping descent into hell. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these unholy truths about existence.


For director insights, extra content, and press updates directly from production, follow @YACFilm across your favorite networks and visit the film’s website.





Today’s horror watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans U.S. Slate weaves old-world possession, art-house nightmares, stacked beside tentpole growls

Running from grit-forward survival fare drawn from near-Eastern lore and onward to brand-name continuations alongside focused festival visions, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured combined with tactically planned year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. Top studios set cornerstones with franchise anchors, while premium streamers pack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs alongside ancient terrors. On another front, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are precise, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s slate begins the calendar with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. timed for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

At summer’s close, Warner Bros. bows the concluding entry from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: period tinged dread, trauma as theme, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, grows the animatronic horror lineup, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It posts in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No overweight mythology. No franchise baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots 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.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Key Trends

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror lineup: returning titles, universe starters, together with A stacked Calendar tailored for Scares

Dek: The emerging terror calendar crams at the outset with a January bottleneck, from there spreads through summer corridors, and pushing into the December corridor, weaving legacy muscle, new concepts, and smart counterprogramming. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on tight budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-driven marketing that transform these films into all-audience topics.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror has grown into the sturdy swing in release plans, a vertical that can expand when it hits and still limit the losses when it misses. After the 2023 year reassured greenlighters that modestly budgeted shockers can command the discourse, 2024 maintained heat with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind pushed into 2025, where revived properties and filmmaker-prestige bets confirmed there is capacity for multiple flavors, from returning installments to original one-offs that resonate abroad. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a slate that feels more orchestrated than usual across studios, with strategic blocks, a spread of marquee IP and new packages, and a renewed emphasis on theater exclusivity that fuel later windows on PVOD and SVOD.

Marketers add the horror lane now works like a versatile piece on the release plan. The genre can open on numerous frames, furnish a clear pitch for promo reels and reels, and lead with moviegoers that respond on previews Thursday and stick through the next pass if the film pays off. In the wake of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 configuration telegraphs certainty in that approach. The calendar begins with a crowded January window, then exploits spring through early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a fall run that runs into spooky season and beyond. The calendar also highlights the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and streamers that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the strategic time.

A parallel macro theme is brand management across ongoing universes and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just releasing another next film. They are shaping as story carry-over with a occasion, whether that is a title presentation that conveys a new tone or a ensemble decision that links a next film to a original cycle. At the same time, the auteurs behind the most anticipated originals are championing on-set craft, real effects and distinct locales. That combination delivers 2026 a vital pairing of comfort and invention, which is how the films export.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two big-ticket titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the focus, setting it up as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the narrative stance suggests a throwback-friendly bent without covering again the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on legacy iconography, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also relaunches 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 draw the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will pursue large awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three distinct strategies. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is tidy, soulful, and logline-clear: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that unfolds into a deadly partner. The date nudges it to the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s team likely to renew uncanny-valley stunts and bite-size content that blurs longing and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an attention spike closer to the initial tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are positioned as event films, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The pre-Halloween slot affords Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has demonstrated that a blood-soaked, makeup-driven execution can feel premium on a middle budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around world-building, and monster design, elements that can drive PLF interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is glowing.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s genre entries feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a structure that optimizes both first-week urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using curated hubs, October hubs, and staff picks to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and making event-like go-lives with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has proven amenable to buy select projects with accomplished filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly activity when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, modernized for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, shepherding the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas corridor to open out. That positioning has delivered for director-led genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception merits. Watch 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 as a pair, using precision theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By volume, 2026 tilts in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap marquee value. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to sell each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is floating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the assembly is known enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Recent comps illuminate the method. In 2023, a cinema-first model that kept clean windows did not hamper a parallel release from hitting when the brand was strong. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror rose in PLF. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they rotate perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 produced back-to-back, permits marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The director conversations behind this year’s genre hint at a continued bias toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed 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 icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that sing on PLF.

Annual flow

January is heavy. Universal’s 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 atmospheric change-up amid macro-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the tonal variety gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth endures.

Winter into spring build the summer base. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster Check This Out on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genome. 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 widowed man’s virtual companion becomes something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 battle to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command shifts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s physical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that toys with the terror of a child’s uncertain POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-built and marquee-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that riffs on current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites breaks out, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a another family lashed to ancient dread. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A new start designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for classic survival-horror tone over action spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on time-true diction and ancient menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical 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 drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can command a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 sleeper-hit 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, aural design, and framing 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 Looks Exciting

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.