Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a nerve shredding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A bone-chilling mystic terror film from creator / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an forgotten terror when unrelated individuals become tokens in a cursed conflict. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a intense saga of living through and ancient evil that will revamp horror this ghoul season. Crafted by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and eerie feature follows five unknowns who find themselves isolated in a wooded cottage under the malignant manipulation of Kyra, a female lead overtaken by a prehistoric biblical demon. Ready yourself to be captivated by a filmic experience that integrates intense horror with timeless legends, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a long-standing fixture in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is inverted when the forces no longer form from beyond, but rather from within. This symbolizes the grimmest shade of the players. The result is a harrowing spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a ongoing conflict between heaven and hell.


In a bleak landscape, five characters find themselves contained under the possessive force and grasp of a unidentified character. As the cast becomes defenseless to evade her power, left alone and pursued by terrors unimaginable, they are pushed to acknowledge their worst nightmares while the clock unforgivingly winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear intensifies and friendships implode, pushing each protagonist to reconsider their core and the concept of volition itself. The risk magnify with every fleeting time, delivering a fear-soaked story that connects supernatural terror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to channel raw dread, an darkness before modern man, operating within our fears, and examining a presence that forces self-examination when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra called for internalizing something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the entity awakens, and that transformation is haunting because it is so private.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be available for horror fans beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—ensuring customers no matter where they are can engage with this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has pulled in over 100K plays.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, exporting the fear to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this life-altering spiral into evil. Experience *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to survive these fearful discoveries about the soul.


For director insights, special features, and promotions from behind the lens, follow @YACMovie across platforms and visit our horror hub.





Contemporary horror’s tipping point: 2025 in focus stateside slate interlaces ancient-possession motifs, independent shockers, alongside franchise surges

Running from survival horror inspired by biblical myth as well as IP renewals paired with pointed art-house angles, 2025 appears poised to be the most dimensioned plus blueprinted year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. Top studios lock in tentpoles via recognizable brands, at the same time premium streamers stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs and scriptural shivers. On another front, independent banners is fueled by the kinetic energy from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, but this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, so 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s pipeline leads off the quarter with a headline swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. set for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Eli Craig directs including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner drops the final chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the tone that worked before is intact: retrograde shiver, trauma explicitly handled, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The follow up digs further into canon, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

With cinemas leaning into known IP, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a room scale body horror descent anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable featuring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No continuity burden. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Franchise Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

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

Platform originals gain bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Projection: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

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

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new terror lineup: returning titles, universe starters, and also A loaded Calendar optimized for nightmares

Dek The incoming genre slate crams in short order with a January crush, then carries through the summer months, and carrying into the holiday stretch, mixing legacy muscle, creative pitches, and shrewd release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on smart costs, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that transform the slate’s entries into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the sturdy move in programming grids, a vertical that can spike when it lands and still protect the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 reassured leaders that modestly budgeted entries can shape the discourse, the following year maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The upswing flowed into 2025, where revived properties and elevated films made clear there is room for different modes, from returning installments to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with planned clusters, a balance of marquee IP and original hooks, and a recommitted eye on release windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and platforms.

Insiders argue the genre now slots in as a fill-in ace on the programming map. Horror can roll out on open real estate, generate a quick sell for ad units and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with moviegoers that line up on Thursday previews and stay strong through the next pass if the film pays off. Emerging from a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores faith in that equation. The year gets underway with a loaded January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a late-year stretch that runs into Halloween and afterwards. The map also features the deeper integration of indie arms and subscription services that can platform a title, build word of mouth, and expand at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is brand curation across interlocking continuities and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just rolling another installment. They are setting up continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a brandmark that indicates a new vibe or a star attachment that binds a new installment to a classic era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the marquee originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, in-camera effects and site-specific worlds. That combination delivers 2026 a vital pairing of comfort and freshness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount fires first with two spotlight titles that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the heart, marketing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a DNA-forward relationship-driven entry. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the authorial approach points to a throwback-friendly bent without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected rooted in heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase mainstream recognition through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick pivots to whatever leads horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is straightforward, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that unfolds into a fatal companion. The date positions it at the front of a thick month, with the Universal machine likely to renew off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that threads devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a name unveil to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are marketed as director events, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor affords Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a blood-soaked, practical-effects forward strategy can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror surge that embraces international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio lines up two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, sustaining a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

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 strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both loyalists and novices. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around lore, and monster craft, elements that can drive PLF interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by careful craft and dialect, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is robust.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run head to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a stair-step that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global pickups and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival wins, confirming horror entries with shorter lead times and framing as events arrivals with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a tiered of focused cinema runs and quick platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to secure select projects with established auteurs or headline-cast packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is uncomplicated: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern audio-visual craft. 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 suggested a theatrical-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has delivered for arthouse horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception prompts. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited runs to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap cultural cachet. The potential drawback, as get redirected here ever, is overexposure. The pragmatic answer is to sell each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is leading with character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-tinted vision from a fresh helmer. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the assembly is assuring enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a same-day experiment from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, art-forward horror over-performed in premium large format. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through relationships and themes and to keep assets alive without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind the 2026 slate point to a continued tilt toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates creep and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and department features before rolling out a tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature craft and set design, which are ideal for fan-con activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that elevate pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that shine in top rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is crowded. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid bigger brand plays. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the tone spread makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into 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 light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s essence. 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 machine mate grows into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

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 face a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 unyielding boss struggle to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

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 horror, founded on Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting piece that filters its scares through a youngster’s uncertain perspective. Rating: not yet rated. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-built and star-led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fervors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated 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 bursts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family snared by old terrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for true survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBD. Production: underway. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 lands now

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or reshuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming landings. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Calendar math also matters. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. 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 spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first 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. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, aural design, and framing 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.