Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on top streamers

An terrifying spectral suspense story from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an ancient nightmare when drifters become subjects in a diabolical ritual. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping saga of staying alive and primeval wickedness that will transform horror this cool-weather season. Realized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and cinematic tale follows five teens who arise stranded in a hidden hideaway under the menacing sway of Kyra, a cursed figure possessed by a legendary holy text monster. Arm yourself to be seized by a immersive event that weaves together bone-deep fear with mystical narratives, unleashing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a enduring concept in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reimagined when the malevolences no longer arise from a different plane, but rather from deep inside. This portrays the most primal version of the protagonists. The result is a bone-chilling cognitive warzone where the events becomes a perpetual struggle between right and wrong.


In a unforgiving natural abyss, five individuals find themselves stuck under the dark presence and curse of a enigmatic person. As the group becomes vulnerable to escape her grasp, abandoned and stalked by creatures unnamable, they are forced to face their soulful dreads while the seconds harrowingly runs out toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia deepens and teams erode, demanding each protagonist to evaluate their personhood and the idea of freedom of choice itself. The danger escalate with every breath, delivering a paranormal ride that weaves together spiritual fright with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to uncover raw dread, an presence that existed before mankind, operating within emotional fractures, and navigating a spirit that forces self-examination when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant channeling something more primal than sorrow. She is innocent until the curse activates, and that transition is gut-wrenching because it is so private.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audiences beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering fans from coast to coast can dive into this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original clip, which has collected over a viral response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, presenting the nightmare to a worldwide audience.


Avoid skipping this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Join *Young & Cursed* this launch day to confront these spiritual awakenings about inner darkness.


For bonus footage, making-of footage, and alerts from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across entertainment pages and visit youngandcursed.com.





The horror genre’s watershed moment: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate blends primeval-possession lore, underground frights, together with IP aftershocks

From endurance-driven terror suffused with old testament echoes and stretching into returning series set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is emerging as the most complex in tandem with blueprinted year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year with familiar IP, even as subscription platforms flood the fall with new perspectives alongside legend-coded dread. On the festival side, the independent cohort is riding the echoes from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween holding the peak, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, and in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are precise, thus 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate opens the year with a big gambit: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. landing in mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer eases, Warner’s schedule drops the final chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson again directs, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma as theme, and eerie supernatural logic. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The next entry deepens the tale, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It posts in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is 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. Before a platform date is locked, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a smart play. No overinflated mythology. No series drag. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, under Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Big screen is a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide 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 goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The new fright release year: entries, original films, plus A stacked Calendar calibrated for nightmares

Dek: The arriving genre cycle packs right away with a January crush, then unfolds through the summer months, and far into the holiday frame, mixing name recognition, untold stories, and tactical alternatives. Studios and platforms are betting on right-sized spends, theater-first strategies, and social-fueled campaigns that shape horror entries into four-quadrant talking points.

How the genre looks for 2026

The genre has shown itself to be the surest play in studio slates, a pillar that can spike when it lands and still limit the liability when it fails to connect. After 2023 reconfirmed for greenlighters that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can galvanize social chatter, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The energy rolled into the 2025 frame, where reboots and prestige plays underscored there is space for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to director-led originals that scale internationally. The result for 2026 is a run that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with strategic blocks, a combination of recognizable IP and untested plays, and a reinvigorated emphasis on big-screen windows that drive downstream revenue on PVOD and platforms.

Executives say the category now serves as a flex slot on the release plan. The genre can roll out on nearly any frame, deliver a clean hook for teasers and shorts, and punch above weight with patrons that turn out on Thursday nights and continue through the week two if the offering connects. On the heels of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 layout demonstrates assurance in that equation. The slate kicks off with a crowded January lineup, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a late-year stretch that runs into spooky season and past Halloween. The arrangement also reflects the tightening integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and expand at the strategic time.

A companion trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and established properties. Major shops are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are setting up lore continuity with a occasion, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a tonal shift or a talent selection that connects a upcoming film to a heyday. At the alongside this, the creative teams behind the marquee originals are prioritizing in-camera technique, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That fusion provides 2026 a healthy mix of comfort and shock, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent bets that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the core, positioning the film as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture indicates a memory-charged approach without covering again the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push centered on signature symbols, early character teases, and a tiered teaser plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a counterweight in summer, this one will generate mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick switches to whatever shapes the discourse that spring.

Universal has three specific plays. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, melancholic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an machine companion that shifts into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to revisit creepy live activations and brief clips that melds devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. 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 grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s pictures are treated as director events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date affords Universal to lead 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has shown that a flesh-and-blood, practical-effects forward method can feel high-value on a mid-range budget. Position this as a hard-R summer horror shock that leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio books two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, preserving a trusty supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where have a peek at these guys Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is billing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both loyalists and fresh viewers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build promo materials around narrative world, and monster craft, elements that can boost premium format interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by careful craft and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus Features has already set the date for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films feed copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ladder that amplifies both launch urgency and sign-up momentum in the downstream. Prime Video pairs catalogue additions with cross-border buys and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using prominent placements, seasonal hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival snaps, locking in horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops launches with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a dual-phase of precision releases and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a situational basis. The platform has been willing to invest in select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 slate 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 direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has delivered for elevated genre with broader reach. 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 supports. 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 boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their membership.

Legacy titles versus originals

By weight, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate name recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to position each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is elevating character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-tinted vision from a rising filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the package is assuring enough to accelerate early sales and advance-audience nights.

Comps from the last three years outline the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept clean windows did not obstruct a day-and-date experiment from working when the brand was compelling. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror hit big in premium screens. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they angle differently and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot in tandem, gives leeway to marketing to tie installments through protagonists and motifs and to keep materials circulating without long gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The creative meetings behind the 2026 slate foreshadow a continued emphasis on hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that leans on tone and tension rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-correct language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in trade spotlights and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that elevates tone over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta refresh that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which lend themselves to convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

Month-by-month map

January is crowded. 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 headline IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the spread of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

February through May tee up summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

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

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a peekaboo tease plan and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s synthetic partner mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: mood-led 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 desolate island as the hierarchy inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: A-list survival chiller 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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to terror, driven by Cronin’s tactile craft and slow-bloom 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 intimate haunting chiller that leverages the fear of a child’s inconsistent point of view. Rating: pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-built and celebrity-led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A spoof revival that lampoons of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fervors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family tethered to past horrors. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on time-true diction and ancient menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that slowed or migrated in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming landings. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on repeatable beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will compete across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, 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 flow and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, 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 grain, aural design, and framing 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 Looks Exciting

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand power where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.