Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primeval horror, a fear soaked thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on global platforms

A blood-curdling paranormal shockfest from dramatist / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an prehistoric fear when drifters become victims in a diabolical game. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of endurance and primeval wickedness that will resculpt terror storytelling this scare season. Visualized by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and shadowy fearfest follows five young adults who awaken caught in a wooded hideaway under the aggressive command of Kyra, a young woman possessed by a timeless religious nightmare. Get ready to be enthralled by a filmic venture that combines gut-punch terror with arcane tradition, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a mainstay theme in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reimagined when the spirits no longer arise externally, but rather within themselves. This illustrates the grimmest dimension of the cast. The result is a relentless moral showdown where the emotions becomes a merciless battle between moral forces.


In a abandoned no-man's-land, five youths find themselves cornered under the fiendish control and possession of a secretive character. As the characters becomes submissive to withstand her will, marooned and pursued by spirits inconceivable, they are confronted to acknowledge their greatest panics while the hours harrowingly winds toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and ties implode, compelling each figure to contemplate their personhood and the integrity of autonomy itself. The risk surge with every tick, delivering a fear-soaked story that integrates demonic fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to extract pure dread, an entity born of forgotten ages, manipulating our fears, and navigating a force that threatens selfhood when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra required summoning something rooted in terror. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that shift is bone-chilling because it is so unshielded.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—allowing customers everywhere can survive this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first preview, which has seen over a viral response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, making the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Do not miss this mind-warping journey into fear. Confront *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to dive into these spiritual awakenings about the psyche.


For cast commentary, filmmaker commentary, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across entertainment pages and visit youngandcursed.com.





Horror’s watershed moment: 2025 in focus U.S. release slate fuses ancient-possession motifs, indie terrors, set against brand-name tremors

Beginning with endurance-driven terror suffused with near-Eastern lore and stretching into installment follow-ups and surgical indie voices, 2025 appears poised to be the most dimensioned together with precision-timed year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, in parallel digital services flood the fall with new perspectives plus mythic dread. In the indie lane, the independent cohort is drafting behind the backdraft of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are calculated, accordingly 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium dread reemerges

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a headline swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. dated for 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. Steered by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial heat flags it as potent.

By late summer, Warner’s slate delivers the closing chapter from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson resumes command, and those signature textures resurface: throwback unease, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, thickens the animatronic pantheon, bridging teens and legacy players. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Digital Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror chamber piece led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative led by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror resurges
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The 2026 spook cycle: continuations, new stories, as well as A busy Calendar geared toward frights

Dek: The current genre calendar stacks from day one with a January traffic jam, following that extends through summer corridors, and well into the December corridor, blending IP strength, creative pitches, and smart offsets. Distributors with platforms are doubling down on lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that convert genre releases into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has shown itself to be the surest option in distribution calendars, a segment that can scale when it performs and still cushion the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to top brass that cost-conscious shockers can own mainstream conversation, 2024 maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and slow-burn breakouts. The upswing rolled into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is an opening for different modes, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The result for 2026 is a run that seems notably aligned across the market, with defined corridors, a harmony of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a revived priority on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Buyers contend the horror lane now serves as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can premiere on numerous frames, create a grabby hook for creative and reels, and outperform with audiences that appear on previews Thursday and sustain through the week two if the offering connects. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration signals comfort in that model. The calendar begins with a busy January lineup, then uses spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while saving space for a autumn push that stretches into spooky season and past the holiday. The arrangement also reflects the greater integration of indie distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and grow at the inflection point.

An added macro current is brand strategy across connected story worlds and long-running brands. Studios are not just mounting another chapter. They are working to present lineage with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a ensemble decision that ties a upcoming film to a classic era. At the same time, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating physical effects work, real effects and distinct locales. That pairing offers 2026 a smart balance of familiarity and freshness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount leads early with two front-of-slate releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a heritage-honoring strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push stacked with iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will pursue four-quadrant chatter through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is tidy, somber, and concept-forward: a grieving man sets up an check over here artificial companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to mirror odd public stunts and short-cut promos that hybridizes romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His projects are presented as auteur events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second wave of trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor gives the studio room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has established that a in-your-face, practical-first method can feel high-value on a efficient spend. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror hit that spotlights global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio rolls out two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, carrying a trusty supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is presenting as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both loyalists and new audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around mythos, and practical creature work, elements that can fuel PLF interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by careful craft and linguistic texture, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already locked the day for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s genre slate move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that amplifies both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix licensed titles with international acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, holiday hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix remains opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival additions, scheduling horror entries on shorter runways and elevating as drops go-lives with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a two-step of targeted theatrical exposure and speedy 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 turning to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a selective basis. The platform has signaled readiness to acquire select projects with acclaimed directors or headline-cast packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 slate with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is no-nonsense: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, modernized for modern audio and picture. 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 announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the year-end corridor to expand. That positioning has been successful for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception supports. 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 in tandem, using boutique theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By tilt, the 2026 slate bends toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on cultural cachet. The trade-off, as ever, is fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to market each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a European tilt from a new voice. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and director-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the cast-creatives package is known enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

The last three-year set help explain the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept streaming intact did not stop a hybrid test from winning when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror over-performed in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they pivot perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, lets marketing to connect the chapters through character web and themes and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind 2026 horror hint at a continued emphasis on in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that leans on unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a first look that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and earns shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature and environment design, which work nicely for fan conventions and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that spotlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

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

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that trade in concept over detail.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s virtual companion evolves into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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: prestige zombie 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 confront a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss fight to survive on a far-flung island as the chain of command turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to dread, rooted in Cronin’s hands-on craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that manipulates the terror of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that pokes at present-day genre chatter and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further extends again, with a new family lashed to residual nightmares. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 and why now

Three operational forces define this lineup. First, production that paused or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine clippable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will share space across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 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 use those gaps. 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. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, acoustics, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand power where it counts, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.