Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up mythic darkness, a chilling supernatural thriller, bowing October 2025 across major platforms

An hair-raising supernatural horror tale from storyteller / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an timeless force when outsiders become pawns in a devilish trial. Launching October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish episode of overcoming and primeval wickedness that will reshape the horror genre this spooky time. Directed by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and shadowy feature follows five unacquainted souls who suddenly rise stuck in a secluded cabin under the malevolent will of Kyra, a possessed female claimed by a ancient Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be gripped by a big screen experience that weaves together gut-punch terror with ancient myths, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a classic narrative in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is inverted when the monsters no longer descend from elsewhere, but rather from within. This depicts the shadowy facet of the protagonists. The result is a harrowing mind game where the story becomes a brutal push-pull between righteousness and malevolence.


In a forsaken wilderness, five figures find themselves isolated under the sinister dominion and possession of a elusive being. As the protagonists becomes incapable to resist her control, cut off and attacked by unknowns unnamable, they are thrust to face their soulful dreads while the doomsday meter harrowingly counts down toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust swells and partnerships splinter, coercing each participant to challenge their true nature and the principle of free will itself. The stakes intensify with every second, delivering a terror ride that blends demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to explore basic terror, an force that existed before mankind, manifesting in fragile psyche, and dealing with a curse that dismantles free will when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something darker than pain. She is unseeing until the control shifts, and that metamorphosis is eerie because it is so deep.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audiences beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving users everywhere can be part of this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has seen over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, offering the tale to a worldwide audience.


Witness this life-altering ride through nightmares. Join *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to experience these unholy truths about the mind.


For director insights, set experiences, and announcements from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit the film’s website.





Horror’s Turning Point: 2025 U.S. Slate integrates Mythic Possession, signature indie scares, paired with IP aftershocks

Spanning pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by scriptural legend all the way to installment follow-ups in concert with surgical indie voices, 2025 looks like the richest and calculated campaign year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio majors lay down anchors with familiar IP, as SVOD players front-load the fall with first-wave breakthroughs in concert with scriptural shivers. Across the art-house lane, the artisan tier is buoyed by the carry from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Since Halloween is the prized date, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are intentional, which means 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: The Return of Prestige Fear

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. 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.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s slate drops the final chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re engages, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma in the foreground, along with eerie supernatural rules. This pass pushes higher, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Plays: Modest spend, serious shock

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, an intimate body horror unraveling led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story led by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

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

Heritage Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

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. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Signals and Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror ascends again
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forecast: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

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.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching fright calendar year ahead: brand plays, universe starters, plus A loaded Calendar geared toward screams

Dek The arriving scare slate packs immediately with a January traffic jam, from there unfolds through the warm months, and carrying into the year-end corridor, braiding franchise firepower, novel approaches, and smart release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are relying on right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-driven marketing that convert horror entries into cross-demo moments.

Horror momentum into 2026

This category has solidified as the steady release in annual schedules, a segment that can scale when it clicks and still hedge the drawdown when it underperforms. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that efficiently budgeted genre plays can steer the national conversation, the following year sustained momentum with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The trend rolled into 2025, where reboots and festival-grade titles showed there is appetite for many shades, from franchise continuations to director-led originals that play globally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across the field, with clear date clusters, a mix of known properties and new concepts, and a sharpened focus on exhibition windows that fuel later windows on premium home window and home streaming.

Studio leaders note the genre now works like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can roll out on many corridors, deliver a tight logline for marketing and platform-native cuts, and outperform with crowds that turn out on early shows and continue through the follow-up frame if the feature connects. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 pattern telegraphs certainty in that model. The year commences with a loaded January lineup, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while leaving room for a September to October window that reaches into Halloween and into post-Halloween. The calendar also reflects the tightening integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can build gradually, build word of mouth, and widen at the right moment.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and veteran brands. The players are not just turning out another return. They are looking to package brand continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a latest entry to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the marquee originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, special makeup and location-forward worlds. That fusion provides the 2026 slate a confident blend of trust and surprise, which is what works overseas.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline plays that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a cross-generational handoff and a heritage-centered character-centered film. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a heritage-honoring campaign without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with iconic art, early character teases, and a promo sequence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount have a peek here also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek four-quadrant chatter through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever rules the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined strategies. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is simple, tragic, and commercial: a grieving man onboards an algorithmic mate that grows into a killer companion. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to mirror uncanny live moments and brief clips that hybridizes romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a final title to become an earned moment closer to the first look. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are sold as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, hands-on effects method can feel big on a controlled budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror hit that maximizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is framing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both diehards and newcomers. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can fuel deluxe auditorium demand and convention buzz.

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 sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by rigorous craft and textual fidelity, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already locked the day for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming windows and tactics

Digital strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre entries shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a structure that maximizes both FOMO and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video balances third-party pickups with global acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library curation, using well-timed internal promotions, genre hubs, and featured rows to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around premieres with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a laddered of selective theatrical runs and accelerated platforming that translates talk to trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to purchase select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for platform stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 slate with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a big-screen first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas window to scale. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-driven genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception encourages. Look 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 together, using small theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, 2026 bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use name recognition. The challenge, as ever, is overexposure. The practical approach is to market each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is spotlighting relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-tinted vision from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years clarify the approach. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that honored streaming windows did not stop a day-date move from delivering when the brand was powerful. In 2024, director-craft horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they angle differently and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot consecutively, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without pause points.

How the films are being made

The shop talk behind the upcoming entries hint at a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that elevates tone and tension rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for textured sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in deep-dive features and department features before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta-horror reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature craft and set design, which play well in fan-con 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 surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

How the year maps out

January is packed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid marquee brands. The month concludes 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 credible, but the variety of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

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

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-first teaser plan and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning 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 resonates with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

One-sentence dossiers

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 meet a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s intelligent companion turns into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 tough boss push to survive on a remote island as the power balance inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 closed-door haunting narrative that filters its scares through a youngster’s shifting subjective lens. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-financed and toplined eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes modern genre fads and true crime fervors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family tethered to residual nightmares. Rating: TBD. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and ancient menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that eased or shifted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on clippable 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.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. 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. Anticipate a robust 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.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural 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 austere, 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 prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sonics, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is franchise muscle where it helps, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.