Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens ancient terror, a hair raising feature, streaming October 2025 across leading streamers

A frightening supernatural shockfest from author / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an prehistoric nightmare when outsiders become vehicles in a devilish contest. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving account of overcoming and old world terror that will reconstruct horror this Halloween season. Crafted by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and moody suspense flick follows five unacquainted souls who arise caught in a far-off dwelling under the unfriendly manipulation of Kyra, a female presence inhabited by a millennia-old sacred-era entity. Get ready to be absorbed by a screen-based journey that combines soul-chilling terror with spiritual backstory, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demonic control has been a classic narrative in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is twisted when the spirits no longer arise from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This marks the darkest part of all involved. The result is a psychologically brutal inner struggle where the suspense becomes a merciless confrontation between light and darkness.


In a haunting natural abyss, five characters find themselves marooned under the ghastly control and overtake of a mysterious apparition. As the companions becomes submissive to resist her power, severed and chased by evils indescribable, they are made to deal with their deepest fears while the seconds unceasingly ticks toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread surges and associations splinter, demanding each person to scrutinize their values and the idea of autonomy itself. The danger rise with every short lapse, delivering a fear-soaked story that merges otherworldly panic with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to evoke primitive panic, an evil that predates humanity, operating within our fears, and examining a evil that threatens selfhood when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra called for internalizing something far beyond human desperation. She is insensitive until the curse activates, and that conversion is harrowing because it is so close.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing households around the globe can dive into this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, spreading the horror to lovers of terror across nations.


Make sure to see this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Join *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these unholy truths about the soul.


For film updates, production insights, and reveals directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your socials and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup braids together archetypal-possession themes, indie terrors, stacked beside tentpole growls

Spanning survivor-centric dread rooted in mythic scripture and including IP renewals plus cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is lining up as the most textured along with strategic year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, as OTT services front-load the fall with first-wave breakthroughs plus primordial unease. At the same time, the artisan tier is carried on the afterglow of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween holding the peak, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with an audacious swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Slated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner releases the last chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: throwback unease, trauma driven plotting, paired with unsettling supernatural order. Here the stakes rise, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It hits in December, pinning the winter close.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a tight space body horror vignette starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is a calculated bet. No swollen lore. No legacy baggage. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws 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 Brands: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, steered by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror returns
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Season Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

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

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The new fear slate: returning titles, non-franchise titles, and also A Crowded Calendar aimed at Scares

Dek The current scare slate loads in short order with a January traffic jam, and then rolls through summer corridors, and continuing into the year-end corridor, combining brand equity, new voices, and well-timed counterprogramming. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on smart costs, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that turn these offerings into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the most reliable move in annual schedules, a pillar that can surge when it lands and still buffer the floor when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reminded leaders that low-to-mid budget chillers can shape social chatter, the following year carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and unexpected risers. The trend fed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and festival-grade titles made clear there is demand for diverse approaches, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that play globally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a calendar that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with planned clusters, a blend of legacy names and untested plays, and a sharpened focus on big-screen windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital and streaming.

Executives say the space now slots in as a utility player on the slate. Horror can debut on open real estate, offer a quick sell for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and over-index with viewers that come out on first-look nights and stay strong through the next pass if the offering satisfies. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 pattern reflects conviction in that setup. The slate kicks off with a thick January run, then exploits spring through early summer for contrast, while reserving space for a fall run that pushes into the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The map also illustrates the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and streaming partners that can platform and widen, ignite recommendations, and expand at the proper time.

A companion trend is brand management across interlocking continuities and legacy franchises. The companies are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are aiming to frame continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a typeface approach that announces a tonal shift or a lead change that ties a next entry to a classic era. At the meanwhile, the creative leads behind the most watched originals are returning to material texture, practical gags and location-forward worlds. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and invention, which is why the genre exports well.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount fires first with two front-of-slate plays that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a passing of the torch and a foundation-forward character study. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture announces a nostalgia-forward approach without replaying the last two entries’ sisters thread. A campaign is expected driven by signature symbols, character spotlights, and a tease cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will build large awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick reframes to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an synthetic partner that becomes a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to recreate creepy live activations and brief clips that mixes affection and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an fan moment closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His entries are presented as auteur events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise Source has long shown that a raw, prosthetic-heavy style can feel elevated on a controlled budget. Expect a splatter summer horror shot that pushes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio rolls out two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is framing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both devotees and general audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around canon, and creature effects, elements that can fuel premium screens and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by textural authenticity and archaic language, this time exploring werewolf lore. The label has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is robust.

Where the platforms fit in

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s genre entries move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that fortifies both FOMO and sub growth in the later phase. Prime Video stitches together third-party pickups with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library pulls, using timely promos, fright rows, and curated strips to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, dating horror entries closer to drop and framing as events go-lives with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a laddered of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that translates talk to trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a selective basis. The platform has indicated interest to board select projects with acclaimed directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 sequence with two franchise steps. 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 haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, updated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday slot to scale. That positioning has served the company well for arthouse horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception justifies. Anticipate 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 as partners, using targeted theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchise entries versus originals

By skew, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The operating solution is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and visionary-led titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the package is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Three-year comps illuminate the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that observed windows did not preclude a day-date try from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reframe POV and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, enables marketing to tie installments through protagonists and motifs and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft conversations behind these films forecast a continued move toward tactile, location-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-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that leans on atmosphere and fear rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead features and technical spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature work and production design, which favor con floor moments and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that highlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar cadence

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid heavier IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the tone spread carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth spreads.

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

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a peekaboo tease plan and limited teasers that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. 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 synthetic partner turns into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures 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: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss battle to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic reverses and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, driven by Cronin’s tactile craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting premise that refracts terror through a little one’s uneven internal vantage. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-built and star-led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A spoof revival that targets contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. 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 globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a another family tethered to old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 primordial menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces organize this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and leaner schedules. 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, 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 efficient band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sound field, and visual design 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 Is Well Positioned

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is name recognition where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the chills sell the seats.