Mythic Horror surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on major platforms

An eerie unearthly nightmare movie from cinematographer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an prehistoric evil when outsiders become pawns in a malevolent ordeal. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching narrative of survival and archaic horror that will alter genre cinema this ghoul season. Directed by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and shadowy feature follows five strangers who emerge locked in a wilderness-bound wooden structure under the dark manipulation of Kyra, a mysterious girl haunted by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Be warned to be absorbed by a screen-based adventure that combines visceral dread with mystical narratives, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a long-standing concept in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is redefined when the spirits no longer develop from elsewhere, but rather inside their minds. This represents the deepest shade of each of them. The result is a psychologically brutal emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a brutal contest between righteousness and malevolence.


In a haunting terrain, five adults find themselves stuck under the dark grip and control of a mysterious person. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to break her rule, abandoned and tormented by presences mind-shattering, they are made to face their deepest fears while the clock mercilessly pushes forward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion deepens and teams crack, compelling each character to reflect on their true nature and the notion of autonomy itself. The intensity mount with every beat, delivering a terror ride that fuses occult fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to channel pure dread, an evil that existed before mankind, manipulating our weaknesses, and challenging a being that forces self-examination when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant evoking something beyond human emotion. She is ignorant until the takeover begins, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so personal.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that customers across the world can be part of this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has seen over 100K plays.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, bringing the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Be sure to catch this bone-rattling fall into madness. Watch *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these ghostly lessons about inner darkness.


For director insights, production news, and alerts via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror inflection point: the 2025 season stateside slate melds primeval-possession lore, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside Franchise Rumbles

From last-stand terror rooted in near-Eastern lore all the way to legacy revivals alongside surgical indie voices, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted and blueprinted year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses plant stakes across the year with familiar IP, at the same time streaming platforms front-load the fall with fresh voices alongside scriptural shivers. At the same time, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is drafting behind the tailwinds from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are targeted, hence 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a reimagined Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, instead in a current-day frame. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Booked into mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, the WB camp releases the last chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

After that, The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re teams, and the tone that worked before is intact: nostalgic menace, trauma explicitly handled, plus otherworld rules that chill. The ante is higher this round, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a forensic chill anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. 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 all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of 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. That is a savvy move. No bloated mythology. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

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 staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, guided 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 framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. 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. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Projection: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop 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 oncoming Horror Year Ahead: brand plays, non-franchise titles, in tandem with A hectic Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek The arriving horror season packs early with a January wave, subsequently unfolds through the mid-year, and continuing into the holiday frame, combining IP strength, fresh ideas, and well-timed alternatives. Studios with streamers are committing to responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and buzz-forward plans that convert these pictures into broad-appeal conversations.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror has turned into the dependable tool in distribution calendars, a lane that can accelerate when it catches and still buffer the exposure when it falls short. After the 2023 year reassured strategy teams that efficiently budgeted chillers can lead the national conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The momentum translated to 2025, where revivals and filmmaker-prestige bets underscored there is space for a spectrum, from continued chapters to standalone ideas that export nicely. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a programming that shows rare alignment across the industry, with obvious clusters, a equilibrium of known properties and new pitches, and a reinvigorated commitment on cinema windows that feed downstream value on premium digital rental and streaming.

Marketers add the category now slots in as a flex slot on the calendar. Horror can bow on a wide range of weekends, furnish a grabby hook for creative and reels, and overperform with moviegoers that show up on Thursday nights and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the title connects. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup indicates conviction in that equation. The year rolls out with a front-loaded January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a fall corridor that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The arrangement also includes the increasing integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and scale up at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is brand management across connected story worlds and long-running brands. Major shops are not just producing another chapter. They are seeking to position story carry-over with a marquee sheen, whether that is a art treatment that announces a new vibe or a casting pivot that threads a fresh chapter to a classic era. At the concurrently, the creative teams behind the top original plays are embracing real-world builds, physical gags and specific settings. That fusion gives 2026 a vital pairing of familiarity and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount marks the early tempo with two high-profile entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the heart, marketing it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a legacy-leaning approach without going over the last two entries’ family thread. Plan for a rollout anchored in legacy iconography, character previews, and a tiered teaser plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall Young & Cursed are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build mainstream recognition through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format inviting quick reframes to whatever shapes genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three distinct plays. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is elegant, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a busy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that melds devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a official title to become an fan moment closer to the first look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as event films, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend opens a lane to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, practical-first approach can feel prestige on a lean spend. Position this as a splatter summer horror rush that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, carrying a steady supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is selling as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build assets around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can fuel format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and linguistic texture, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already locked the day for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is positive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. The studio’s horror films transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a pacing that optimizes both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the downstream. Prime Video blends licensed films with global acquisitions and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to sustain interest on overall cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, timing horror entries toward the drop and making event-like go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a staged of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a discrete basis. The platform has proven amenable to buy select projects with top-tier auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a useful reference important element for monthly engagement when the genre conversation peaks.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 track with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, recalibrated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has shown results for craft-driven horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using small theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

IP versus fresh ideas

By skew, 2026 tips toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is overexposure. The workable fix is to position each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a fresh helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and his comment is here director-driven titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the team and cast is steady enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent-year comps illuminate the approach. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not deter a day-date move from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror outperformed in premium screens. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they rotate perspective and elevate scope. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to sustain campaign assets without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind these films suggest a continued move toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft features before rolling out a mood teaser that withholds plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta refresh that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature design and production design, which work nicely for con floor moments and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that center surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

Annual flow

January is loaded. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid marquee brands. The month concludes 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 range of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late-season stretch leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a bridge slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited information drops that center concept over reveals.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 severe boss try to survive on a remote island as the pecking order turns and paranoia spreads. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to fear, built on Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting premise that mediates the fear via a child’s flickering subjective lens. Rating: forthcoming. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that targets contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: pending. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 surges, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new family caught in past horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on pure survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: forthcoming. 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 period-specific language and elemental fear. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026, why now

Three execution-level forces define this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-slotted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage turnkey scare beats from test screenings, metered scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

The slot calculus is real. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will jostle across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 dark-horse hunt 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, guard the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.