Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing October 2025 on global platforms

A haunting paranormal shockfest from writer / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an long-buried evil when strangers become puppets in a satanic ritual. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving story of perseverance and mythic evil that will reimagine horror this October. Produced by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and immersive tale follows five unacquainted souls who emerge ensnared in a wilderness-bound cabin under the sinister dominion of Kyra, a tormented girl inhabited by a biblical-era Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be hooked by a filmic spectacle that intertwines bodily fright with arcane tradition, hitting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a well-established tradition in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is twisted when the dark entities no longer originate from beyond, but rather inside their minds. This mirrors the malevolent layer of the cast. The result is a psychologically brutal emotional conflict where the emotions becomes a relentless struggle between virtue and vice.


In a desolate landscape, five figures find themselves cornered under the possessive control and haunting of a elusive female figure. As the cast becomes unable to fight her control, stranded and chased by beings mind-shattering, they are driven to battle their inner demons while the moments coldly draws closer toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion mounts and connections erode, urging each cast member to contemplate their essence and the foundation of autonomy itself. The risk intensify with every fleeting time, delivering a fear-soaked story that blends mystical fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to tap into primitive panic, an threat that predates humanity, filtering through human fragility, and testing a evil that tests the soul when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant channeling something outside normal anguish. She is clueless until the invasion happens, and that transformation is gut-wrenching because it is so close.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audiences beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing audiences around the globe can watch this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its original clip, which has racked up over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, making the film to viewers around the world.


Join this heart-stopping exploration of dread. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For bonus footage, production news, and press updates via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across online outlets and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror watershed moment: 2025 in focus American release plan weaves old-world possession, independent shockers, alongside IP aftershocks

Kicking off with grit-forward survival fare steeped in ancient scripture all the way to brand-name continuations in concert with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured plus tactically planned year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios lay down anchors via recognizable brands, in tandem SVOD players flood the fall with unboxed visions set against legend-coded dread. In parallel, independent banners is surfing the afterglow from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween holding the peak, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, however this time, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are disciplined, so 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: The Return of Prestige Fear

The majors are assertive. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with a marquee bet: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a sharp contemporary setting. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. Pictures unveils the final movement from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the tone that worked before is intact: vintage toned fear, trauma driven plotting, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It books December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn led by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No brand fatigue. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festivals as Springboards

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’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching fright year to come: returning titles, filmmaker-first projects, paired with A busy Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek The current horror season lines up from the jump with a January logjam, subsequently unfolds through summer corridors, and far into the December corridor, weaving franchise firepower, inventive spins, and well-timed release strategy. Studios and platforms are relying on right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and short-form initiatives that pivot these pictures into national conversation.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has shown itself to be the sturdy release in programming grids, a lane that can expand when it resonates and still insulate the downside when it doesn’t. After 2023 proved to greenlighters that disciplined-budget chillers can lead mainstream conversation, 2024 extended the rally with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The head of steam carried into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles demonstrated there is a lane for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to one-and-done originals that resonate abroad. The takeaway for 2026 is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with strategic blocks, a spread of familiar brands and novel angles, and a recommitted emphasis on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on PVOD and OTT platforms.

Planners observe the horror lane now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can open on almost any weekend, provide a sharp concept for marketing and reels, and outperform with viewers that turn out on previews Thursday and return through the second weekend if the title works. In the wake of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration shows faith in that logic. The year kicks off with a stacked January band, then primes spring and early summer for balance, while saving space for a October build that reaches into the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The arrangement also shows the deeper integration of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can build gradually, create conversation, and scale up at the strategic time.

A further high-level trend is franchise tending across shared IP webs and long-running brands. Distribution groups are not just pushing another chapter. They are aiming to frame lineage with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a ensemble decision that reconnects a next entry to a vintage era. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on tactile craft, physical gags and concrete locations. That blend yields 2026 a solid mix of trust and novelty, which is how the films export.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile plays that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture indicates a classic-referencing angle without covering again the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Watch for a push anchored in brand visuals, first-look character reveals, and a trailer cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after large awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, grief-rooted, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man sets up an artificial companion that evolves into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to renew eerie street stunts and short-form creative that hybridizes romance and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets 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 listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s work are positioned as director events, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has made clear that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy style can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a red-band summer horror shot that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench this page is impressively deep. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, holding a reliable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is positioning as a ground-zero restart 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 focus to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around lore, and creature design, elements that can accelerate premium format interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by meticulous craft and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform windowing in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s horror titles window into copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that fortifies both debut momentum and subscription bumps in the back half. Prime Video combines licensed titles with global acquisitions and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library curation, using in-app campaigns, Halloween hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix retains agility about first-party entries and festival deals, timing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around releases with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a two-step of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a selective basis. The platform has shown a willingness to board select projects with accomplished filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 runway with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clean: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, upgraded for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has served the company well for filmmaker-driven genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception prompts. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using targeted theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By skew, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The go-to fix is to present each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is underscoring character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a continental coloration from a emerging director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and visionary-led titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the team and cast is grounded enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

Three-year comps make sense of the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that observed windows did not prevent a same-day experiment from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror punched above its weight in PLF. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they shift POV and grow scope. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, lets marketing to thread films through character and theme and to keep assets in-market without pause points.

Craft and creative trends

The craft conversations behind the year’s horror indicate a continued lean toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers tone and tension rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead press and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work and world-building, which align with expo activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. 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 big-brand pushes. The month concludes 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 stiff, but the palette of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late Q1 and spring load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now sustains 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can win 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 cycled through premium screens.

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that elevate concept over story.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can win the holiday when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: tone-first 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 claw to survive on a cut-off island as the control dynamic tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to dread, built on Cronin’s practical effects and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. 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 intimate haunting setup that refracts terror through a kid’s shifting subjective view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: 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 reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes modern genre fads and true-crime obsessions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: cameras due to roll 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 erupts, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a another family entangled with returning horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 era-faithful speech and raw menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: imp source prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 and why now

Three grounded forces inform this lineup. First, production that eased or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 placements. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on social-ready stingers from test screenings, precision scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will stack across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers continues in Q1, where 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, and camera work 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, Ready To Roar

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is name recognition where it counts, inventive vision where it helps, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.