Age-old Dread Surfaces within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling feature, premiering Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This unnerving spectral shockfest from storyteller / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an timeless evil when drifters become pawns in a devilish struggle. Going live October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing depiction of survival and ancient evil that will reshape horror this fall. Realized by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five characters who are stirred isolated in a cut-off hideaway under the ominous manipulation of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a timeless sacred-era entity. Arm yourself to be enthralled by a visual experience that weaves together gut-punch terror with timeless legends, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a historical trope in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is turned on its head when the malevolences no longer form from an outside force, but rather internally. This represents the haunting shade of the victims. The result is a bone-chilling spiritual tug-of-war where the intensity becomes a soul-crushing clash between divinity and wickedness.


In a remote backcountry, five youths find themselves cornered under the fiendish influence and haunting of a haunted figure. As the youths becomes unable to fight her will, disconnected and pursued by powers mind-shattering, they are thrust to reckon with their greatest panics while the moments ruthlessly ticks toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread grows and relationships implode, forcing each character to scrutinize their true nature and the principle of liberty itself. The tension intensify with every instant, delivering a cinematic nightmare that combines supernatural terror with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to tap into primitive panic, an evil beyond recorded history, filtering through soul-level flaws, and examining a presence that tests the soul when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra demanded embodying something past sanity. She is blind until the evil takes hold, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so personal.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for digital release beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that watchers anywhere can dive into this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its initial teaser, which has gathered over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, spreading the horror to a worldwide audience.


Do not miss this unforgettable descent into darkness. Confront *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to face these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, making-of footage, and news from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit our horror hub.





Contemporary horror’s tipping point: 2025 across markets U.S. lineup interlaces legend-infused possession, Indie Shockers, and franchise surges

Ranging from fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with primordial scripture and extending to brand-name continuations paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 appears poised to be the most dimensioned together with deliberate year in ten years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. the big studios lay down anchors with franchise anchors, as premium streamers flood the fall with unboxed visions in concert with mythic dread. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is surfing the uplift from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, however this time, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are calculated, which means 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige terror resurfaces

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

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a confident swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

As summer eases, the WB camp bows the concluding entry of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma foregrounded, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

SVOD Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable starring Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Shaped and helmed by 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. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated canon. No IP hangover. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

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, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

What’s Next: Autumn density and winter pivot

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. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The upcoming Horror release year: continuations, non-franchise titles, together with A brimming Calendar optimized for Scares

Dek: The emerging scare calendar stacks immediately with a January cluster, from there rolls through summer corridors, and far into the holiday stretch, blending franchise firepower, new voices, and savvy counterplay. Studios and streamers are doubling down on lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that shape genre titles into water-cooler talk.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has become the dependable release in distribution calendars, a pillar that can lift when it hits and still insulate the floor when it underperforms. After 2023 re-taught strategy teams that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can lead cultural conversation, the following year extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and surprise hits. The carry translated to the 2025 frame, where revivals and critical darlings signaled there is a market for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to one-and-done originals that travel well. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with purposeful groupings, a harmony of legacy names and untested plays, and a tightened commitment on release windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital rental and home platforms.

Studio leaders note the category now acts as a swing piece on the rollout map. Horror can launch on virtually any date, offer a clean hook for promo reels and UGC-friendly snippets, and overperform with audiences that lean in on opening previews and hold through the next weekend if the movie fires. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 pattern indicates confidence in that logic. The slate kicks off with a stacked January schedule, then primes spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a fall cadence that runs into the fright window and beyond. The map also underscores the ongoing integration of boutique distributors and subscription services that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and widen at the inflection point.

A notable top-line trend is legacy care across shared universes and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just releasing another chapter. They are moving to present lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a re-angled tone or a cast configuration that anchors a new entry to a initial period. At the parallel to that, the creative teams behind the headline-grabbing originals are championing on-set craft, physical gags and concrete locations. That pairing offers 2026 a solid mix of familiarity and unexpected turns, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two marquee moves that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, angling it as both a relay and a classic-mode character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance suggests a heritage-honoring strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. A campaign is expected leaning on brand visuals, character-first teases, and a promo sequence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also resurrects 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will double down on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will build wide appeal through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever rules genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to recreate off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that blurs companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a official title to become an PR pop closer to the teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s work are marketed as signature events, with a teaser that holds back and a subsequent trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The prime October weekend opens a lane to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work 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 steers, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has shown that a gritty, in-camera leaning execution can feel top-tier on a moderate cost. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror charge that centers international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio mounts two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is describing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both franchise faithful and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build promo materials around mythos, and creature work, elements that can stoke IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in historical precision and textual fidelity, this time focused on werewolf legend. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on tested paths. The studio’s horror films shift to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a sequence that elevates both first-week urgency and subscription bumps in the tail. Prime Video pairs licensed films with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in deep cuts, using featured rows, genre hubs, and handpicked rows to sustain interest on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about internal projects and festival buys, slotting horror entries closer to drop and elevating as drops debuts with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a tiered of focused cinema runs and quick platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has signaled readiness to invest in select projects with recognized filmmakers or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is putting together 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 promise is simple: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn stretch.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, stewarding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday dates to broaden. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception encourages. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By number, 2026 bends toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness legacy awareness. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The workable fix is to package each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-tinted vision from a rising filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a island-set survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the configuration is anchored enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent-year comps contextualize the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that preserved streaming windows did not foreclose a dual release from hitting when the brand was strong. In 2024, auteur craft horror outperformed in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they alter lens and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to relate entries through character web and themes and to continue assets in field without hiatuses.

Production craft signals

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the year’s horror suggest a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that underscores mood and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead press and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at practical nastiness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and sparks shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta pivot that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster aesthetics and world-building, which favor expo activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that highlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that shine in top rooms.

How the year maps out

January is full. 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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tonal variety gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late Q1 and spring prepare summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes 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 bridges 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive 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 moved through premium slots.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited asset reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift card usage.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s virtual companion mutates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 difficult boss work to survive on a remote island as the hierarchy turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, news April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to terror, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting story that plays with the panic of a child’s shaky perspective. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-supported and star-led supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that pokes at current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: pending. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-core horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and elemental fear. Rating: TBD. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the moment is 2026

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and leaner 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work clippable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will line up across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.