Age-old Terror rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling horror feature, landing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

An bone-chilling supernatural thriller from scriptwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic dread when strangers become vehicles in a diabolical contest. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping saga of perseverance and old world terror that will reshape terror storytelling this October. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and emotionally thick film follows five strangers who regain consciousness caught in a wilderness-bound hideaway under the hostile manipulation of Kyra, a possessed female dominated by a biblical-era scriptural evil. Anticipate to be absorbed by a filmic ride that intertwines soul-chilling terror with folklore, arriving on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a well-established foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is redefined when the monsters no longer manifest from beyond, but rather from deep inside. This portrays the grimmest part of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat mind game where the narrative becomes a ongoing struggle between good and evil.


In a abandoned backcountry, five teens find themselves isolated under the possessive presence and spiritual invasion of a secretive female presence. As the group becomes vulnerable to escape her will, abandoned and attacked by beings unfathomable, they are required to endure their greatest panics while the countdown unforgivingly runs out toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread intensifies and teams fracture, demanding each figure to evaluate their core and the philosophy of freedom of choice itself. The threat accelerate with every fleeting time, delivering a scare-fueled ride that combines occult fear with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dig into basic terror, an power born of forgotten ages, manipulating our fears, and exposing a being that strips down our being when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant channeling something outside normal anguish. She is ignorant until the curse activates, and that change is haunting because it is so deep.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for streaming beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing watchers across the world can witness this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has pulled in over 100K plays.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, delivering the story to viewers around the world.


Mark your calendar for this bone-rattling exploration of dread. Join *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to witness these chilling revelations about mankind.


For cast commentary, production news, and insider scoops directly from production, follow @YACMovie across your socials and visit the film’s website.





Contemporary horror’s pivotal crossroads: the year 2025 domestic schedule blends Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, set against Franchise Rumbles

Running from endurance-driven terror drawn from primordial scripture all the way to installment follow-ups together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is emerging as the most complex paired with calculated campaign year in a decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Top studios plant stakes across the year by way of signature titles, at the same time SVOD players saturate the fall with new voices alongside legend-coded dread. On the festival side, festival-forward creators is carried on the backdraft of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, though in this cycle, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium dread reemerges

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 accelerates.

Universal Pictures leads off the quarter with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Slated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. While the template is known, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The continuation widens the legend, thickens the animatronic pantheon, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Plays: Modest spend, serious shock

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No sequel clutter. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Signals and Trends

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror reemerges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

The Road Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The coming 2026 spook slate: follow-ups, original films, together with A brimming Calendar engineered for goosebumps

Dek: The arriving scare slate loads from day one with a January logjam, subsequently spreads through midyear, and continuing into the late-year period, blending name recognition, novel approaches, and calculated counterprogramming. Studios and streamers are doubling down on tight budgets, theatrical leads, and buzz-forward plans that frame these releases into four-quadrant talking points.

How the genre looks for 2026

The genre has become the sturdy option in release plans, a pillar that can spike when it lands and still limit the floor when it does not. After 2023 signaled to leaders that responsibly budgeted pictures can lead mainstream conversation, 2024 carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The tailwind moved into 2025, where revived properties and elevated films confirmed there is an opening for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to non-IP projects that carry overseas. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a grid that shows rare alignment across the field, with clear date clusters, a balance of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a renewed strategy on exhibition windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital and OTT platforms.

Schedulers say the genre now performs as a schedule utility on the distribution slate. Horror can open on numerous frames, deliver a quick sell for creative and short-form placements, and outpace with moviegoers that lean in on early shows and continue through the second frame if the title fires. Following a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 mapping telegraphs comfort in that dynamic. The slate begins with a front-loaded January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for contrast, while carving room for a fall cadence that reaches into the Halloween corridor and into November. The arrangement also underscores the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and streaming partners that can grow from platform, fuel WOM, and move wide at the strategic time.

A parallel macro theme is brand management across brand ecosystems and established properties. The companies are not just mounting another installment. They are trying to present threaded continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a reframed mood or a casting choice that anchors a new entry to a early run. At the meanwhile, the filmmakers behind the headline-grabbing originals are returning to practical craft, physical gags and vivid settings. That interplay produces the 2026 slate a confident blend of trust and surprise, which is how the genre sells abroad.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount leads early with two marquee plays that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the focus, presenting it as both a handoff and a rootsy character-first story. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the tonal posture hints at a throwback-friendly campaign without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Expect a marketing push leaning on brand visuals, character spotlights, and a promo sequence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will double down on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will generate wide buzz through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format making room for quick adjustments to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is efficient, grief-rooted, and commercial: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that evolves into a murderous partner. The date places it at the front of a thick month, with marketing at Universal likely to iterate on uncanny-valley stunts and quick hits that mixes affection and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an earned moment closer to the first look. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His entries are sold as auteur events, with a opaque teaser and a later trailer push that signal tone without plot the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor lets the studio to dominate 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has consistently shown that a gritty, on-set effects led aesthetic can feel high-value on a controlled budget. Frame it as a red-band summer horror blast that spotlights international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio deploys two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a bankable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is describing as a reimagined restart 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 sharper mandate to serve both devotees and newcomers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build marketing units around narrative world, and monster craft, elements that can lift PLF interest and fan events.

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 sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in obsessive craft and linguistic texture, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is supportive.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform plans for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a ordering that enhances both week-one demand and viewer acquisition in the later phase. Prime Video balances third-party pickups with international acquisitions and targeted theatrical runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in deep cuts, using editorial spots, October hubs, and editorial rows to keep attention on overall cume. Netflix retains agility about in-house releases and festival wins, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and staging as events arrivals with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a one-two of tailored theatrical exposure and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters movies January 23, 2026, before leaning on niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has proven amenable to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or headline-cast packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 track with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, reimagined for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a big-screen first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then using the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has delivered 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 often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception merits. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using targeted theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Known brands versus new stories

By share, the 2026 slate skews toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage fan equity. The concern, as ever, is viewer burnout. The workable fix is to frame each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is emphasizing character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-tinted vision from a emerging director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the bundle is steady enough to drive advance ticketing and preview-night crowds.

Recent comps contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from working when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they reorient and expand the canvas. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot in tandem, creates space for marketing to connect the chapters through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the year’s horror indicate a continued tilt toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes unease and texture rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and medieval diction, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has performed 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 earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta inflection that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which work nicely for fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that center pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. 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 brooding contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tone spread opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth endures.

Winter into spring load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

End of summer through fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that favor idea over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can win the holiday when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s virtual companion escalates into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: aura-driven 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 prickly boss try to survive on a remote island as the hierarchy upends and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s on-set craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that toys with the chill of a child’s shaky read. Rating: rating pending. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-scale and A-list fronted supernatural mood piece.

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 parody reboot that teases modern genre fads and true-crime manias. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a unlucky family linked to lingering terrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBA. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. Production: underway. 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 raw menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the moment is 2026

Three operational forces organize this lineup. First, production that eased or recalendared in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

There is also the slotting calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will compete across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where midrange-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, 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 trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, filmmaker 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.