Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primeval horror, a nerve shredding chiller, launching October 2025 across major platforms

This chilling otherworldly suspense story from literary architect / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial terror when unknowns become proxies in a satanic experiment. Launching October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of struggle and mythic evil that will reshape the horror genre this scare season. Directed by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive screenplay follows five individuals who are stirred ensnared in a secluded house under the ominous rule of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a 2,000-year-old ancient fiend. Arm yourself to be immersed by a motion picture adventure that intertwines instinctive fear with spiritual backstory, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a legendary fixture in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is challenged when the beings no longer arise from elsewhere, but rather from their psyche. This suggests the malevolent layer of every character. The result is a bone-chilling moral showdown where the intensity becomes a unforgiving push-pull between good and evil.


In a haunting woodland, five adults find themselves sealed under the unholy aura and grasp of a enigmatic apparition. As the characters becomes powerless to oppose her influence, severed and stalked by presences mind-shattering, they are made to face their greatest panics while the time mercilessly ticks onward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion amplifies and connections splinter, demanding each person to contemplate their essence and the nature of self-determination itself. The hazard escalate with every beat, delivering a horror experience that combines spiritual fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dive into core terror, an threat before modern man, manifesting in emotional fractures, and questioning a spirit that redefines identity when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra required summoning something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the control shifts, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing horror lovers in all regions can face this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has gathered over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, extending the thrill to a worldwide audience.


Join this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Face *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For featurettes, making-of footage, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit youngandcursed.com.





Today’s horror inflection point: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule melds Mythic Possession, festival-born jolts, alongside returning-series thunder

Beginning with life-or-death fear drawn from primordial scripture and stretching into returning series together with surgical indie voices, 2025 is tracking to be the most stratified along with deliberate year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, concurrently streaming platforms crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with mythic dread. On another front, the art-house flank is buoyed by the echoes of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are calculated, so 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium genre swings back

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. sets loose the finale from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson is back, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, speaking to teens and older millennials. It posts in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. 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 night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No sequel clutter. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

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.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. 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. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The 2026 genre calendar year ahead: returning titles, new stories, alongside A hectic Calendar tailored for nightmares

Dek: The emerging terror season clusters early with a January wave, subsequently spreads through June and July, and straight through the late-year period, mixing marquee clout, fresh ideas, and shrewd calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on lean spends, theatrical exclusivity first, and shareable marketing that shape these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror sector has turned into the consistent swing in annual schedules, a vertical that can accelerate when it breaks through and still insulate the drawdown when it does not. After 2023 showed studio brass that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can drive mainstream conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and surprise hits. The upswing carried into 2025, where re-entries and festival-grade titles confirmed there is a market for several lanes, from continued chapters to director-led originals that perform internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a schedule that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with mapped-out bands, a combination of known properties and novel angles, and a reinvigorated eye on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on premium home window and subscription services.

Buyers contend the space now works like a swing piece on the programming map. Horror can roll out on many corridors, supply a sharp concept for creative and short-form placements, and lead with patrons that show up on first-look nights and sustain through the second weekend if the title lands. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 plan shows assurance in that engine. The year starts with a stacked January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for balance, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that pushes into All Hallows period and afterwards. The calendar also includes the increasing integration of specialty arms and OTT outlets that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and widen at the sweet spot.

A notable top-line trend is series management across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Big banners are not just greenlighting another entry. They are looking to package threaded continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title presentation that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a star attachment that threads a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the very same time, the auteurs behind the top original plays are returning to practical craft, practical gags and specific settings. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a smart balance of comfort and freshness, which is the formula for international play.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent titles that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character piece. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a nostalgia-forward treatment without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. Count on a promo wave centered on recognizable motifs, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a summer relief option, this one will drive large awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format supporting quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is tight, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date nudges it to the front of a busy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to iterate on uncanny live moments and short reels that mixes companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working names 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 branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first trailer. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are treated as marquee events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a visceral, practical-effects forward method can feel premium on a middle budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that pushes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio deploys two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, sustaining a trusty supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is billing 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 clearer mandate to serve both diehards and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign pieces around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can lift format premiums and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes 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 built on meticulous craft and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The distributor has already set the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming windows and tactics

Digital strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s horror titles window into copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a tiered path that expands both opening-weekend urgency and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video interleaves third-party pickups with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using well-timed internal promotions, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival snaps, slotting horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of focused cinema runs and fast windowing that translates talk to trials. 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+ assesses case by case horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe weblink Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, reimagined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to move out. That positioning has been successful for craft-driven horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using small theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

IP versus fresh ideas

By tilt, the 2026 slate skews toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit cultural cachet. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The practical approach is to present each entry as a new angle. Paramount is centering character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the packaging is anchored enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Three-year comps contextualize the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not block a parallel release from thriving when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror hit big in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through cast and motif and to keep assets in-market without hiatuses.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The shop talk behind the 2026 slate hint at a continued preference for tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes tone and tension rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-aware reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster work and world-building, which lend themselves to convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heftier brand moves. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the mix of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Winter into spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited previews that stress concept over spoilers.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner unfolds into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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 be swallowed by a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 prickly boss claw to survive on a isolated island as the chain of command swivels and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, founded on Cronin’s on-set craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting chiller that routes the horror through a youth’s uneven POV. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 participating creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that targets today’s horror trends and true-crime manias. Rating: rating forthcoming. 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 spreads, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new clan anchored to past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate turnkey scare beats from test screenings, managed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, making room 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 compete across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

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

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 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. 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient screen counts, 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 texture, soundscape, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, hold the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.