Primordial Horror Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling chiller, debuting Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

A haunting paranormal shockfest from cinematographer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an timeless terror when foreigners become tokens in a devilish experiment. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish journey of overcoming and age-old darkness that will resculpt terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Brought to life by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and tone-heavy motion picture follows five unknowns who awaken trapped in a wilderness-bound hideaway under the hostile sway of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a ancient biblical demon. Ready yourself to be drawn in by a filmic spectacle that melds instinctive fear with ancient myths, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a enduring pillar in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is redefined when the dark entities no longer emerge from elsewhere, but rather deep within. This marks the darkest aspect of the group. The result is a intense inner struggle where the conflict becomes a perpetual clash between heaven and hell.


In a unforgiving outland, five souls find themselves confined under the dark sway and domination of a unknown person. As the cast becomes incapable to withstand her command, stranded and preyed upon by terrors beyond reason, they are obligated to battle their soulful dreads while the time unforgivingly counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia escalates and friendships erode, compelling each soul to evaluate their essence and the nature of freedom of choice itself. The cost grow with every short lapse, delivering a frightening tale that intertwines otherworldly panic with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to evoke ancestral fear, an threat rooted in antiquity, manifesting in emotional fractures, and exposing a presence that challenges autonomy when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra meant evoking something far beyond human desperation. She is blind until the spirit seizes her, and that transition is shocking because it is so personal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing subscribers anywhere can engage with this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has collected over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Join this visceral trip into the unknown. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these terrifying truths about our species.


For bonus footage, making-of footage, and alerts from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our horror hub.





U.S. horror’s decisive shift: the year 2025 U.S. lineup interlaces Mythic Possession, microbudget gut-punches, together with Franchise Rumbles

Running from last-stand terror grounded in near-Eastern lore and stretching into returning series paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 appears poised to be the most variegated and precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. major banners stabilize the year through proven series, as subscription platforms crowd the fall with emerging auteurs together with ancient terrors. Meanwhile, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the momentum from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are exacting, so 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium dread reemerges

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal Pictures opens the year with a headline swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. dated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Guided by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer wanes, Warner’s pipeline bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma as theme, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, stretches the animatronic parade, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It arrives in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters lean on names and sequels, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn starring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

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. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. 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.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

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

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, from Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The new chiller calendar year ahead: Sequels, non-franchise titles, as well as A busy Calendar Built For chills

Dek The incoming terror cycle builds at the outset with a January logjam, from there rolls through the mid-year, and continuing into the holiday frame, braiding brand equity, untold stories, and smart counterplay. Distributors with platforms are committing to mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that pivot these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has established itself as the predictable release in studio lineups, a genre that can surge when it performs and still cushion the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 signaled to top brass that lean-budget genre plays can dominate the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and under-the-radar smashes. The carry fed into 2025, where reawakened brands and elevated films signaled there is space for many shades, from series extensions to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The result for 2026 is a grid that shows rare alignment across distributors, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of brand names and fresh ideas, and a recommitted priority on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on premium digital and home streaming.

Executives say the space now behaves like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can roll out on open real estate, create a grabby hook for spots and short-form placements, and lead with fans that line up on preview nights and maintain momentum through the next pass if the title lands. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 cadence underscores belief in that setup. The year launches with a thick January schedule, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a late-year stretch that carries into All Hallows period and beyond. The grid also highlights the expanded integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can nurture a platform play, fuel WOM, and grow at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and long-running brands. The studios are not just turning out another sequel. They are setting up lore continuity with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a tonal shift or a talent selection that bridges a fresh chapter to a vintage era. At the alongside this, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are favoring real-world builds, special makeup and concrete locations. That interplay yields 2026 a confident blend of familiarity and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight pushes that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the core, angling it as both a succession moment and a foundation-forward character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the creative stance telegraphs a memory-charged treatment without rehashing the last two entries’ sisters storyline. A campaign is expected leaning on iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a trailer cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a summer relief option, this one will seek wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever owns genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three distinct pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is efficient, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that evolves into a killer companion. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise off-kilter promo beats and short reels that hybridizes longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an PR pop closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s releases are positioned as filmmaker events, with a concept-forward tease and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date lets the studio to saturate 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has demonstrated that a visceral, makeup-driven treatment can feel big on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror surge that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio deploys two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is describing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both core fans and newcomers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around canon, and practical creature work, elements that can amplify premium screens and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror centered on careful craft and linguistic texture, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is positive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate land on copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that amplifies both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video will mix third-party pickups with global acquisitions and small theatrical windows when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their edges in back-catalog play, using seasonal hubs, horror hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival buys, timing horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops drops with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of limited theatrical footprints and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown appetite to pick up select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 pipeline with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, modernized for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception warrants. Plan 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 in tandem, using targeted theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their community.

Balance of brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate skews toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use household recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is overexposure. The practical approach is to package each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a European tilt from a rising filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles add oxygen. 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, puts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years outline the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that observed windows did not hamper a parallel release from delivering when the brand was compelling. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they angle differently and grow my company scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, allows marketing to interlace chapters through personae and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without doldrums.

How the films are being made

The creative meetings behind this slate forecast a continued emphasis on hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and guild coverage before rolling out a tease that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which are ideal for con floor moments and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that spotlight surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid marquee brands. The month closes 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 serious, but the mix of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that stress concept over spoilers.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card spend.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner grows into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 work to survive on a far-flung island as the power dynamic shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to menace, based on Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. 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 residential haunting setup that plays with the dread of a child’s wobbly impressions. Rating: pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A satirical comeback that skewers current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further extends again, with a fresh family linked to past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: to be announced. Production: active. 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 historical diction and primal menace. Rating: pending. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three operational forces organize this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on repeatable beats from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sonics, 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 Shapes Up Strong

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, new vision where it lands, 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-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.