Mythic Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across major platforms

One terrifying supernatural fright fest from writer / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an primeval force when strangers become victims in a hellish trial. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving journey of struggle and timeless dread that will revolutionize the fear genre this spooky time. Brought to life by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and eerie screenplay follows five characters who suddenly rise stuck in a unreachable shelter under the aggressive influence of Kyra, a cursed figure possessed by a 2,000-year-old ancient fiend. Ready yourself to be seized by a motion picture spectacle that harmonizes visceral dread with timeless legends, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a mainstay concept in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is radically shifted when the forces no longer develop beyond the self, but rather from within. This mirrors the shadowy facet of the group. The result is a emotionally raw moral showdown where the events becomes a unyielding struggle between divinity and wickedness.


In a abandoned landscape, five friends find themselves cornered under the possessive effect and spiritual invasion of a secretive being. As the group becomes paralyzed to evade her will, disconnected and tracked by beings beyond comprehension, they are required to battle their deepest fears while the seconds unceasingly counts down toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust rises and relationships collapse, prompting each person to contemplate their core and the concept of volition itself. The threat mount with every passing moment, delivering a scare-fueled ride that weaves together mystical fear with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to dive into raw dread, an darkness from prehistory, influencing inner turmoil, and highlighting a darkness that strips down our being when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra required summoning something darker than pain. She is oblivious until the haunting manifests, and that change is haunting because it is so deep.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—allowing customers in all regions can be part of this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has received over six-figure audience.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, bringing the film to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this cinematic exploration of dread. Stream *Young & Cursed* this launch day to dive into these spiritual awakenings about our species.


For featurettes, set experiences, and reveals from the story's source, follow @YACFilm across entertainment pages and visit youngandcursed.com.





American horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. release slate melds ancient-possession motifs, Indie Shockers, paired with franchise surges

Ranging from pressure-cooker survival tales rooted in primordial scripture and including brand-name continuations alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted and blueprinted year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. Major studios stabilize the year with established lines, simultaneously digital services load up the fall with fresh voices alongside scriptural shivers. In parallel, indie storytellers is fueled by the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, though in this cycle, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, as a result 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule kicks off the frame with a statement play: a refashioned Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. drops the final chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma as theme, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No overweight mythology. No franchise baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

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. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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 Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forecast: Fall stack and winter swing card

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror cycle: next chapters, Originals, as well as A stacked Calendar tailored for jolts

Dek: The brand-new terror year clusters in short order with a January crush, from there stretches through June and July, and pushing into the holidays, mixing IP strength, untold stories, and data-minded alternatives. The big buyers and platforms are betting on smart costs, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that turn genre titles into broad-appeal conversations.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has established itself as the bankable lever in studio lineups, a space that can break out when it hits and still mitigate the risk when it fails to connect. After 2023 reconfirmed for greenlighters that modestly budgeted fright engines can galvanize the national conversation, the following year kept the drumbeat going with signature-voice projects and surprise hits. The trend moved into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers signaled there is a market for a variety of tones, from ongoing IP entries to original features that scale internationally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a calendar that presents tight coordination across studios, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of recognizable IP and original hooks, and a revived focus on big-screen windows that drive downstream revenue on PVOD and subscription services.

Schedulers say the horror lane now behaves like a schedule utility on the release plan. Horror can kick off on a wide range of weekends, furnish a sharp concept for ad units and TikTok spots, and outstrip with ticket buyers that arrive on preview nights and maintain momentum through the next pass if the entry delivers. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration indicates confidence in that playbook. The slate commences with a front-loaded January lineup, then targets spring into early summer for balance, while making space for a autumn stretch that stretches into the fright window and past the holiday. The map also underscores the greater integration of specialized labels and subscription services that can platform and widen, fuel WOM, and broaden at the inflection point.

Another broad trend is series management across shared universes and classic IP. Big banners are not just releasing another follow-up. They are seeking to position threaded continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a title treatment that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a ensemble decision that bridges a next entry to a heyday. At the concurrently, the auteurs behind the high-profile originals are prioritizing on-set craft, special makeup and concrete locations. That alloy delivers the 2026 slate a confident blend of home base and discovery, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two headline moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, signaling it as both a relay and a classic-mode character-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the directional approach conveys a fan-service aware strategy without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. A campaign is expected centered on heritage visuals, character spotlights, and a tiered teaser plan slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will foreground. As a summer counter-slot, this one will pursue wide appeal through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format fitting quick switches to whatever dominates pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three clear entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is efficient, grief-rooted, and high-concept: a grieving man implements an AI companion that unfolds into a lethal partner. The date positions it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to reprise off-kilter promo beats and short reels that interlaces romance and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a proper title to become an PR pop closer to the initial tease. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s releases are marketed as event films, with a teaser that reveals little and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween runway opens a lane to maximize 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has shown that a visceral, physical-effects centered method can feel cinematic on a controlled budget. Expect a red-band summer horror surge that leans hard into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio lines up two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, maintaining a dependable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is presenting as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around lore, and creature builds, elements that can drive premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 grounded in historical precision and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus’s team has already set the weblink date for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s horror titles head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a tiered path that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video combines licensed films with world buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in back-catalog play, using in-app campaigns, spooky hubs, and programmed rows to stretch the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix retains agility about originals and festival acquisitions, finalizing horror entries tight to release and positioning as event drops drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a situational basis. The platform has indicated interest to board select projects with award winners or star packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 corridor with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is uncomplicated: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has paid off 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 often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Anticipate 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 together, using targeted theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

Known brands versus new stories

By number, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to position each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is foregrounding core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French sensibility from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects deliver oxygen. 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, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Three-year comps outline the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that observed windows did not obstruct a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to link the films through personae and themes and to keep assets alive without doldrums.

Craft and creative trends

The shop talk behind the 2026 entries suggest a continued turn toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that highlights tone and tension rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which play well in convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is heavy. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth persists.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited advance reveals that favor idea over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s AI companion evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 tough boss push to survive on a remote island as the power balance inverts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 domestic haunting piece that filters its scares through a youngster’s uneven personal vantage. Rating: pending. Production: picture-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 parody return that riffs on present-day genre chatter and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBA. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new clan snared by residual nightmares. Rating: TBD. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 historical diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 lands now

Three grounded forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that downshifted or reshuffled in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more measured 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 releases. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can control a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will share space across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 disciplined-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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand gravity where needed, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.