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

An spine-tingling mystic scare-fest from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primeval nightmare when foreigners become tools in a hellish game. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving journey of perseverance and forgotten curse that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this ghoul season. Created by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and cinematic story follows five lost souls who emerge caught in a far-off shelter under the menacing power of Kyra, a mysterious girl controlled by a prehistoric sacred-era entity. Ready yourself to be ensnared by a visual spectacle that unites soul-chilling terror with mythic lore, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demonic control has been a long-standing fixture in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reversed when the malevolences no longer appear externally, but rather from their psyche. This mirrors the most hidden dimension of every character. The result is a enthralling psychological battle where the story becomes a constant clash between heaven and hell.


In a unforgiving landscape, five individuals find themselves marooned under the unholy grip and inhabitation of a enigmatic woman. As the group becomes submissive to deny her influence, isolated and targeted by powers indescribable, they are made to stand before their core terrors while the deathwatch ruthlessly moves toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear escalates and ties splinter, driving each person to doubt their essence and the integrity of conscious will itself. The cost surge with every passing moment, delivering a terror ride that marries otherworldly suspense with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dig into instinctual horror, an evil rooted in antiquity, channeling itself through emotional vulnerability, and highlighting a presence that dismantles free will when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra demanded embodying something beyond human emotion. She is ignorant until the haunting manifests, and that transition is terrifying because it is so private.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—ensuring streamers anywhere can engage with this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its original promo, which has been viewed over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, delivering the story to thrill-seekers globally.


Avoid skipping this bone-rattling descent into hell. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to face these spiritual awakenings about the psyche.


For director insights, filmmaker commentary, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across social media and visit our spooky domain.





Today’s horror inflection point: the year 2025 U.S. calendar fuses Mythic Possession, festival-born jolts, alongside series shake-ups

Moving from life-or-death fear infused with near-Eastern lore all the way to legacy revivals plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex together with deliberate year in a decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. the big studios lock in tentpoles through proven series, in tandem SVOD players saturate the fall with emerging auteurs paired with mythic dread. On another front, independent banners is riding the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, notably this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are surgical, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are assertive. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a refashioned Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Helmed by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. sets loose the finale inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

After that, The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

Digital Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale featuring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural 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 all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overweight mythology. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, from Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror reemerges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming fear year to come: brand plays, universe starters, together with A Crowded Calendar optimized for chills

Dek: The emerging terror cycle lines up at the outset with a January logjam, from there spreads through the mid-year, and carrying into the festive period, weaving brand heft, untold stories, and smart counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and social-fueled campaigns that elevate the slate’s entries into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has become the most reliable swing in studio lineups, a pillar that can grow when it performs and still safeguard the losses when it misses. After 2023 signaled to top brass that cost-conscious shockers can own cultural conversation, the following year continued the surge with director-led heat and surprise hits. The trend moved into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles confirmed there is room for diverse approaches, from series extensions to fresh IP that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a slate that is strikingly coherent across the field, with purposeful groupings, a combination of brand names and new concepts, and a reinvigorated stance on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium digital rental and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the category now behaves like a wildcard on the release plan. Horror can bow on virtually any date, deliver a simple premise for trailers and TikTok spots, and outstrip with fans that line up on early shows and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the entry lands. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration signals comfort in that approach. The slate starts with a loaded January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while holding room for a fall corridor that flows toward late October and into November. The map also underscores the ongoing integration of specialty arms and digital platforms that can platform and widen, create conversation, and scale up at the strategic time.

A companion trend is series management across shared universes and heritage properties. The studios are not just producing another return. They are seeking to position threaded continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title design that signals a tonal shift or a casting pivot that links a new installment to a classic era. At the very same time, the helmers behind the most watched originals are favoring tactile craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That alloy hands 2026 a robust balance of brand comfort and invention, which is why the genre exports well.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount marks the early tempo with two high-profile plays that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a baton pass and a DNA-forward character piece. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach suggests a nostalgia-forward bent without going over the last two entries’ family thread. Plan for a rollout centered on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a two-beat trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites 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 on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an machine companion that escalates into a murderous partner. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s promo team likely to reprise uncanny live moments and brief clips that blurs romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title reveal to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film this contact form grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are branded horror movies as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a second trailer wave that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-October frame gives Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a gritty, practical-effects forward strategy can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Expect a grime-caked summer horror charge that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio deploys two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio 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 comes back in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around narrative world, and monster design, elements that can amplify premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in rigorous craft and period language, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus Features has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a cadence that elevates both launch urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video combines licensed titles with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and curated rows to lengthen the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival buys, finalizing horror entries toward the drop and turning into events premieres with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and quick platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown a willingness to invest in select projects with prestige directors or A-list packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 track with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is uncomplicated: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, retooled for modern audio and picture. 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 positioned a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to go wider. That positioning has proved effective for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchises versus originals

By weight, the 2026 slate skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on brand equity. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The practical approach is to sell each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is elevating relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the bundle is recognizable enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Three-year comps make sense of the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that held distribution windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they pivot perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries 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 lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to bridge entries through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

How the films are being made

The filmmaking conversations behind this year’s genre indicate a continued shift toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that spotlights grain and menace rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that leans on mood over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta-horror reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster work and world-building, which match well with con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel necessary. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that shine in top rooms.

Annual flow

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid heftier brand moves. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the tonal variety creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sticks.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps 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 comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a peekaboo tease plan and limited teasers that center concept over reveals.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Embedded title notes

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 meet a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s artificial companion mutates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 altering 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 severe boss struggle to survive on a rugged island as the control dynamic upends and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s tactile craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting tale that interrogates the dread of a child’s inconsistent point of view. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-scale and star-led supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satire sequel that skewers current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family linked to returning horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward pure survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in progress. 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 period language and primal menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that paused or rearranged in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can occupy check over here those holes swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify meme-ready beats from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Calendar math also matters. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will line up 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 benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome 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 deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, 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, Ready To Roar

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shudders sell the seats.