Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 across major streaming services

This unnerving spiritual nightmare movie from narrative craftsman / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an timeless dread when guests become instruments in a hellish trial. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching journey of resilience and age-old darkness that will remodel horror this spooky time. Directed by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick tale follows five unacquainted souls who arise caught in a hidden dwelling under the ominous rule of Kyra, a haunted figure haunted by a prehistoric Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be captivated by a big screen spectacle that melds visceral dread with legendary tales, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a iconic trope in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is inverted when the beings no longer manifest from an outside force, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the most terrifying layer of these individuals. The result is a emotionally raw psychological battle where the emotions becomes a perpetual push-pull between purity and corruption.


In a haunting forest, five figures find themselves caught under the sinister sway and infestation of a obscure figure. As the ensemble becomes incapacitated to evade her dominion, left alone and attacked by entities impossible to understand, they are confronted to deal with their raw vulnerabilities while the deathwatch mercilessly ticks toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia mounts and associations erode, coercing each member to challenge their self and the structure of decision-making itself. The pressure climb with every passing moment, delivering a nightmarish journey that marries otherworldly panic with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to uncover core terror, an power beyond recorded history, manipulating fragile psyche, and dealing with a will that redefines identity when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra was centered on something outside normal anguish. She is unaware until the evil takes hold, and that transition is eerie because it is so raw.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for digital release beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering users in all regions can enjoy this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its intro video, which has been viewed over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, giving access to the movie to international horror buffs.


Make sure to see this haunted path of possession. Explore *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to experience these dark realities about free will.


For teasers, making-of footage, and alerts from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official digital haunt.





U.S. horror’s Turning Point: the year 2025 U.S. release slate blends biblical-possession ideas, festival-born jolts, plus franchise surges

From pressure-cooker survival tales steeped in old testament echoes to series comebacks alongside focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into horror’s most layered together with deliberate year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. major banners lay down anchors with known properties, at the same time premium streamers prime the fall with new voices alongside legend-coded dread. Across the art-house lane, the artisan tier is riding the kinetic energy of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Since Halloween is the prized date, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are methodical, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Elevated fear reclaims ground

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s schedule opens the year with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, instead in a current-day frame. Guided by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Led by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re boards, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. The stakes escalate here, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The return delves further into myth, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It drops in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Offerings: Tight funds, wide impact

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Next comes Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable starring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of 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 bloated canon. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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

Signals and Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

The Road Ahead: 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 including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. 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 plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The upcoming scare season: entries, new stories, And A jammed Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek: The incoming horror calendar packs immediately with a January glut, before it runs through summer, and straight through the holiday stretch, blending IP strength, creative pitches, and data-minded counterplay. Studios and platforms are relying on lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that transform these films into all-audience topics.

How the genre looks for 2026

The horror sector has grown into the steady move in release plans, a corner that can scale when it breaks through and still mitigate the downside when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year showed buyers that lean-budget horror vehicles can steer the national conversation, the following year maintained heat with buzzy auteur projects and unexpected risers. The momentum extended into the 2025 frame, where revivals and arthouse crossovers signaled there is room for several lanes, from returning installments to director-led originals that play globally. The aggregate for 2026 is a grid that shows rare alignment across companies, with obvious clusters, a blend of known properties and novel angles, and a reinvigorated priority on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Schedulers say the horror lane now acts as a versatile piece on the programming map. Horror can launch on virtually any date, offer a simple premise for previews and TikTok spots, and over-index with ticket buyers that lean in on opening previews and sustain through the week two if the feature satisfies. After a production delay era, the 2026 pattern demonstrates belief in that dynamic. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January run, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while holding room for a fall run that pushes into Halloween and into post-Halloween. The layout also reflects the greater integration of specialized imprints and SVOD players that can nurture a platform play, ignite recommendations, and expand at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across shared universes and heritage properties. The companies are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are working to present lineage with a must-see charge, whether that is a title design that telegraphs a tonal shift or a cast configuration that threads a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are returning to tactile craft, practical gags and site-specific worlds. That fusion yields the 2026 slate a solid mix of recognition and surprise, which is what works overseas.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount sets the tone early with two centerpiece titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a baton pass and a classic-mode character piece. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the tonal posture indicates a throwback-friendly mode without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with signature symbols, character spotlights, and a staggered trailer plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mass reach through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format fitting quick turns to whatever drives the discourse that spring.

Universal has three defined projects. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is efficient, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an algorithmic mate that becomes a dangerous lover. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to iterate on creepy live activations and micro spots that interlaces affection and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. The filmmaker’s films are presented as creative events, with a minimalist tease and a next wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The prime October weekend lets the studio 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gritty, in-camera leaning treatment can feel elevated on a lean spend. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that embraces international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio rolls out two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a evergreen supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is marketing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both longtime followers and fresh viewers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build artifacts around canon, and monster craft, elements that can accelerate premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in careful craft and historical speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a sequence that expands both week-one demand and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video balances licensed content with cross-border buys and short theatrical plays when the data points to it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in back-catalog play, using seasonal hubs, holiday hubs, and curated rows to stretch the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about internal projects and festival grabs, locking in horror entries with shorter lead times and positioning as event drops debuts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a dual-phase of limited theatrical footprints and accelerated platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to invest in select this contact form projects with top-tier auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 track with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clean: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festival season if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas corridor to increase reach. That positioning has been successful for arthouse horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception allows. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using boutique theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Known brands versus new stories

By volume, 2026 bends toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap household recognition. The risk, as ever, is diminishing returns. The standing approach is to position each entry as a new angle. Paramount is underscoring character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a Francophone tone from a new voice. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the package is anchored enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Rolling three-year comps illuminate the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that respected streaming windows did not preclude a day-and-date experiment from winning when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they angle differently and scale the storytelling. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, lets marketing to thread films through relationships and themes and to continue assets in field without hiatuses.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The creative meetings behind these films forecast a continued turn toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that foregrounds aura and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which play well in con floor moments and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that shine in top rooms.

Annual flow

January is full. 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 tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. 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 meaningful, but the spread of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s AI companion mutates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss fight to survive on a rugged island as the power balance of power swivels and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to horror, anchored by Cronin’s practical effects 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 in-home haunting tale that refracts terror through a little one’s volatile POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-crafted and name-above-title paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that riffs on hot-button genre motifs and true-crime obsessions. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 ignites, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a different family tethered to older hauntings. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. 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: strategically hidden. Rating: undetermined. Production: ongoing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 lands now

Three operational forces shape this lineup. First, production that decelerated or rearranged in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate meme-ready beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that power Source influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will share space across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where value-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. Anticipate a robust 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a buffet, 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 runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, aural design, and image-making 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.

A Promising 2026

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, lock the reveals, and let the frights sell the seats.