Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

A hair-raising paranormal terror film from author / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an prehistoric curse when passersby become tokens in a demonic contest. Streaming this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful chronicle of resilience and primeval wickedness that will remodel the horror genre this ghoul season. Guided by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and eerie motion picture follows five figures who suddenly rise locked in a wilderness-bound structure under the hostile dominion of Kyra, a haunted figure dominated by a timeless holy text monster. Anticipate to be gripped by a visual presentation that fuses bodily fright with legendary tales, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a recurring foundation in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is subverted when the entities no longer appear beyond the self, but rather inside them. This portrays the deepest part of the cast. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the conflict becomes a soul-crushing confrontation between heaven and hell.


In a bleak wild, five friends find themselves cornered under the malicious control and grasp of a enigmatic being. As the cast becomes powerless to escape her grasp, cut off and chased by terrors unnamable, they are compelled to acknowledge their soulful dreads while the countdown coldly strikes toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia swells and teams erode, urging each cast member to doubt their values and the integrity of self-determination itself. The consequences mount with every breath, delivering a chilling narrative that marries spiritual fright with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dive into ancestral fear, an entity from ancient eras, feeding on fragile psyche, and navigating a being that threatens selfhood when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is ignorant until the invasion happens, and that pivot is terrifying because it is so visceral.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering subscribers anywhere can engage with this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first trailer, which has garnered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, exporting the fear to fans of fear everywhere.


Experience this life-altering descent into darkness. Join *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For bonus footage, set experiences, and updates straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACMovie across entertainment pages and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror inflection point: the year 2025 U.S. calendar integrates archetypal-possession themes, art-house nightmares, alongside brand-name tremors

Spanning fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with primordial scripture all the way to brand-name continuations and cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured plus blueprinted year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio powerhouses lay down anchors using marquee IP, as premium streamers saturate the fall with discovery plays plus scriptural shivers. In the indie lane, indie storytellers is carried on the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are surgical, hence 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium dread reemerges

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate opens the year with a big gambit: a refashioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. arriving mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer eases, Warner’s pipeline unveils the final movement from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. While the template is known, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: old school creep, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. This pass pushes higher, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, bridging teens and legacy players. It posts in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Digital Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale starring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No IP hangover. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

From Festivals to Market

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

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Heritage Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, led by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trend Lines

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forecast: Fall stack and winter swing card

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The next fright cycle: Sequels, filmmaker-first projects, alongside A busy Calendar aimed at Scares

Dek: The fresh genre year stacks at the outset with a January cluster, then carries through the warm months, and carrying into the year-end corridor, mixing brand heft, creative pitches, and calculated offsets. Studios and streamers are betting on lean spends, theatrical leads, and short-form initiatives that frame these pictures into broad-appeal conversations.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror filmmaking has turned into the bankable counterweight in studio lineups, a segment that can lift when it performs and still safeguard the liability when it fails to connect. After 2023 showed greenlighters that responsibly budgeted shockers can galvanize the discourse, 2024 extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and sleeper breakouts. The head of steam moved into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings underscored there is space for a spectrum, from continued chapters to one-and-done originals that scale internationally. The result for 2026 is a slate that is strikingly coherent across studios, with planned clusters, a equilibrium of household franchises and fresh ideas, and a renewed eye on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium on-demand and subscription services.

Schedulers say the genre now works like a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can launch on open real estate, offer a clear pitch for spots and shorts, and outperform with crowds that lean in on first-look nights and maintain momentum through the second weekend if the feature delivers. Emerging from a production delay era, the 2026 setup signals belief in that logic. The year launches with a heavy January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while reserving space for a fall run that extends to the Halloween frame and into early November. The schedule also shows the increasing integration of specialized imprints and streamers that can platform a title, ignite recommendations, and grow at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is brand management across shared IP webs and storied titles. Big banners are not just producing another sequel. They are looking to package lineage with a marquee sheen, whether that is a brandmark that flags a tonal shift or a talent selection that bridges a new entry to a vintage era. At the alongside this, the creative leads behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating hands-on technique, practical gags and place-driven backdrops. That fusion provides 2026 a lively combination of assurance and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two centerpiece projects that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the lead, signaling it as both a cross-generational handoff and a rootsy character piece. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the tonal posture signals a legacy-leaning campaign without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push anchored in signature symbols, character previews, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will feature. As a summer relief option, this one will seek mainstream recognition through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick pivots to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, grief-rooted, and easily pitched: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that becomes a dangerous lover. The date places it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s team likely to recreate strange in-person beats and quick hits that fuses affection and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a official title to become an teaser payoff closer to the opening teaser. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are marketed as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second beat that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date offers Universal room to command 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has long shown that a raw, on-set effects led execution can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Look for a grime-caked summer horror surge that leans hard into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio sets two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, extending a evergreen supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is billing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both franchise faithful and first-timers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build campaign pieces around setting detail, and monster design, elements that can fuel large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by historical precision and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Windowing plans in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s genre slate land on copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a sequence that amplifies both premiere heat and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video blends outside acquisitions with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using prominent placements, October hubs, and staff picks to keep attention on overall cume. Netflix plays opportunist about internal projects and festival wins, confirming horror entries closer to launch and elevating as drops releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has indicated interest to take on select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 sequence with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is no-nonsense: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, modernized 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 suggested a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then working the holiday frame to increase reach. That positioning has been successful for prestige horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception supports. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using boutique theatrical news to kindle evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchises versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on name recognition. The caveat, as ever, is viewer burnout. The operating solution is to frame each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-inflected take from a rising filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries provide the air. 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 crash-survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is known enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps make sense of the method. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that maintained windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror exceeded expectations in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reframe POV and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 filmed consecutively, permits marketing to cross-link entries through cast and motif and to leave creative active without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The shop talk behind the upcoming entries indicate a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that emphasizes tone and tension rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft spotlights before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and drives shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta refresh that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which fit with fan conventions and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel necessary. Look for trailers that underscore pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid big-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Pre-summer months tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Shoulder season into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a bridge slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that elevate concept over story.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative this contact form relinks to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s algorithmic partner becomes something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 unyielding boss struggle to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic reverses and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April Get More Info 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s hands-on craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting scenario that filters its scares through a kid’s shifting subjective lens. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. 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 re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime buzz. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a unlucky family lashed to residual nightmares. Rating: forthcoming. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: active. 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 antique diction and elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three hands-on forces define this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate clippable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will jostle across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the ideal 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where modest-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 dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

How the year flows for audiences

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 sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, aural design, and imagery 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 shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is name recognition where it counts, filmmaker vision where it matters, 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, guard the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.