Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a hair raising feature, launching October 2025 across top streaming platforms

An spine-tingling mystic shockfest from dramatist / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an forgotten evil when passersby become instruments in a diabolical struggle. Dropping October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing depiction of resistance and old world terror that will remodel the horror genre this October. Realized by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie film follows five individuals who regain consciousness imprisoned in a cut-off hideaway under the menacing influence of Kyra, a central character haunted by a 2,000-year-old scriptural evil. Ready yourself to be drawn in by a theatrical presentation that blends intense horror with ancient myths, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a historical theme in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the monsters no longer appear from external sources, but rather from within. This symbolizes the most sinister corner of the group. The result is a intense emotional conflict where the intensity becomes a brutal clash between virtue and vice.


In a remote wilderness, five friends find themselves marooned under the malicious presence and domination of a obscure figure. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to oppose her command, isolated and followed by presences unimaginable, they are pushed to confront their greatest panics while the timeline mercilessly edges forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia rises and partnerships fracture, urging each person to evaluate their self and the foundation of personal agency itself. The cost rise with every heartbeat, delivering a scare-fueled ride that intertwines demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to tap into pure dread, an power from prehistory, manifesting in our weaknesses, and exposing a being that threatens selfhood when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra was about accessing something rooted in terror. She is in denial until the takeover begins, and that pivot is haunting because it is so deep.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing streamers globally can survive this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its intro video, which has pulled in over 100K plays.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, making the film to global fright lovers.


Mark your calendar for this visceral spiral into evil. Confront *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to dive into these spiritual awakenings about the soul.


For featurettes, production news, and alerts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursed across platforms and visit the official movie site.





Modern horror’s inflection point: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts weaves legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, paired with tentpole growls

Ranging from fight-to-live nightmare stories saturated with legendary theology through to legacy revivals paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 stands to become the most complex combined with precision-timed year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios lay down anchors by way of signature titles, as digital services saturate the fall with unboxed visions as well as old-world menace. On the festival side, the artisan tier is buoyed by the afterglow of a peak 2024 circuit. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, notably this year, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, thus 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: The Return of Prestige Fear

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

Universal Pictures starts the year with a marquee bet: a modernized Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. Led by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Slated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Steered by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retrograde shiver, trauma in the foreground, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, grows the animatronic horror lineup, courting teens and the thirty something base. It drops in December, pinning the winter close.

Streamer Exclusives: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major 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. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is an astute call. No swollen lore. No canon weight. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

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

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Franchise Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Key Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Big screen is a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Projection: Fall stack and winter swing card

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The forthcoming 2026 spook cycle: continuations, Originals, alongside A Crowded Calendar optimized for Scares

Dek: The incoming terror year clusters in short order with a January traffic jam, from there unfolds through the warm months, and carrying into the year-end corridor, braiding brand heft, fresh ideas, and shrewd counterplay. Studios and platforms are betting on right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that frame these films into all-audience topics.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has grown into the sturdy release in studio slates, a category that can break out when it lands and still buffer the floor when it underperforms. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted shockers can own the discourse, the following year kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The upswing moved into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings showed there is a market for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that translate worldwide. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a slate that presents tight coordination across distributors, with planned clusters, a harmony of established brands and original hooks, and a sharpened focus on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on premium rental and digital services.

Executives say the genre now serves as a flex slot on the release plan. Horror can bow on nearly any frame, deliver a simple premise for trailers and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with patrons that appear on early shows and hold through the next weekend if the offering hits. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration telegraphs assurance in that logic. The slate rolls out with a stacked January schedule, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while saving space for a September to October window that pushes into the fright window and into early November. The map also includes the increasing integration of boutique distributors and home platforms that can platform a title, grow buzz, and widen at the right moment.

A further high-level trend is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and veteran brands. Big banners are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are setting up threaded continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a recalibrated tone or a casting choice that threads a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the very same time, the helmers behind the most anticipated originals are embracing material texture, special makeup and location-forward worlds. That fusion provides the 2026 slate a confident blend of trust and novelty, which is what works overseas.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two prominent titles that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, signaling it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning character-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture indicates a memory-charged campaign without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a tiered teaser plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will play up. As a summer relief option, this one will seek wide appeal through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick adjustments to whatever shapes the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is clean, heartbroken, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an intelligent companion that grows into a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a crowded corridor, with the Universal machine likely to iterate on eerie street stunts and brief clips that hybridizes affection and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets 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 listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele projects are presented as director events, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The pre-Halloween slot opens a lane to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has demonstrated that a raw, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel premium on a efficient spend. Expect a viscera-heavy summer horror charge that leans hard into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio places two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, continuing a proven supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and creature work, elements that can accelerate premium booking interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus’s team has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is robust.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ladder that boosts both debut momentum and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video combines licensed content with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library curation, using in-app campaigns, fright rows, and staff picks to extend momentum on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival grabs, slotting horror entries closer to drop and staging as events debuts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a laddered of selective theatrical runs and prompt platform moves that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to acquire select projects with acclaimed directors or star-driven packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation peaks.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 sequence with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is uncomplicated: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the back half.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, piloting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to broaden. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception prompts. Look for 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 as a pair, using small theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By skew, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to sell each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is emphasizing character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and director-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the bundle is grounded enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Recent-year comps help explain the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a day-date try from paying off when the brand was potent. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they pivot perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot in tandem, builds a path for marketing to link the films through character web and themes and to hold creative in the market without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind these films indicate a continued emphasis on in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that centers texture and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and guild coverage before rolling out a preview that leans on mood over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature design and production design, which lend themselves to expo activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that center pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

From winter to holidays

January is heavy. 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 foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the mix of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Post-January through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then check over here Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late summer into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday gift-card burn.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s intelligent companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: atmospheric 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 severe boss push to survive on a rugged island as the pecking order turns and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to menace, founded on Cronin’s practical effects and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting tale that filters its scares through a preteen’s uneven subjective view. Rating: forthcoming. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBA. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 flares, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a fresh family entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in classic survival-horror tone over action pyrotechnics. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. 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 period-precise speech and elemental dread. Rating: TBA. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces shape this lineup. First, production that eased or shifted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and tighter 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 releases. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate shareable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, offering breathing room for genre entries that can control a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 dark-horse 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sound field, 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, protect the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.