Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a hair raising horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

One frightening supernatural suspense film from literary architect / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an long-buried evil when guests become subjects in a demonic ritual. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing saga of survival and age-old darkness that will alter horror this scare season. Produced by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and cinematic feature follows five young adults who find themselves ensnared in a off-grid structure under the menacing power of Kyra, a female lead inhabited by a timeless Old Testament spirit. Arm yourself to be immersed by a visual adventure that integrates intense horror with ancient myths, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a iconic motif in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is radically shifted when the malevolences no longer arise from a different plane, but rather through their own souls. This represents the grimmest dimension of all involved. The result is a emotionally raw cognitive warzone where the tension becomes a soul-crushing clash between righteousness and malevolence.


In a wilderness-stricken wilderness, five youths find themselves confined under the malicious presence and haunting of a mysterious female figure. As the companions becomes paralyzed to deny her dominion, isolated and chased by terrors ungraspable, they are required to face their inner horrors while the final hour mercilessly edges forward toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion swells and associations dissolve, demanding each individual to examine their existence and the nature of personal agency itself. The pressure climb with every instant, delivering a horror experience that harmonizes spiritual fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dig into elemental fright, an force beyond time, embedding itself in human fragility, and navigating a evil that forces self-examination when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra required summoning something beneath mortal despair. She is unaware until the evil takes hold, and that change is haunting because it is so deep.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for horror fans beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering watchers everywhere can experience this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has attracted over 100K plays.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, exporting the fear to viewers around the world.


Be sure to catch this unforgettable descent into darkness. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to experience these evil-rooted truths about our species.


For previews, production news, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the movie’s homepage.





American horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle American release plan Mixes legend-infused possession, art-house nightmares, in parallel with brand-name tremors

From endurance-driven terror infused with old testament echoes and including brand-name continuations in concert with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the richest together with intentionally scheduled year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. the big studios hold down the year with known properties, as subscription platforms front-load the fall with new voices in concert with archetypal fear. In the indie lane, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the backdraft from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: High-craft horror returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s schedule leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, instead in a current-day frame. From director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson resumes command, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma as narrative engine, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This time the stakes climb, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, bridging teens and legacy players. It bows in December, pinning the winter close.

SVOD Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a sealed box body horror arc anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Penned and steered 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Franchise Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated 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, guided by 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, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

What to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror ascends again
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a 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. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming fear release year: entries, standalone ideas, and also A Crowded Calendar tailored for Scares

Dek The new scare year builds at the outset with a January cluster, from there unfolds through the warm months, and continuing into the December corridor, combining brand equity, inventive spins, and tactical counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are leaning into lean spends, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that shape these pictures into water-cooler talk.

How the genre looks for 2026

This space has turned into the most reliable release in distribution calendars, a pillar that can accelerate when it clicks and still mitigate the floor when it fails to connect. After 2023 reassured strategy teams that responsibly budgeted entries can dominate mainstream conversation, the following year maintained heat with filmmaker-forward plays and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum moved into the 2025 frame, where revivals and awards-minded projects underscored there is a market for several lanes, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that travel well. The result for 2026 is a lineup that presents tight coordination across the field, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of established brands and first-time concepts, and a tightened strategy on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and platforms.

Executives say the category now performs as a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can debut on most weekends, create a clean hook for spots and platform-native cuts, and lead with viewers that lean in on first-look nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the release pays off. Following a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 cadence demonstrates conviction in that model. The calendar gets underway with a thick January window, then targets spring into early summer for audience offsets, while saving space for a October build that connects to the Halloween frame and past the holiday. The layout also illustrates the continuing integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and broaden at the optimal moment.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just rolling another chapter. They are aiming to frame ongoing narrative with a occasion, whether that is a title design that flags a fresh attitude or a casting move that anchors a new installment to a vintage era. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into material texture, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative stance points to a throwback-friendly strategy without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Plan for a rollout centered on recognizable motifs, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the this page early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will feature. As a summer counter-slot, this one will build large awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format supporting quick redirects to whatever shapes genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an AI companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to replay viral uncanny stunts and snackable content that hybridizes devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. His entries are presented as signature events, with a teaser that reveals little and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has made clear that a tactile, practical-first approach can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror surge that leans hard into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has shifted dates 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 returns in what Sony is framing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both diehards and curious audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build promo materials around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can stoke premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by obsessive craft and historical speech, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The Universal horror run flow to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a cadence that maximizes both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the later window. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with global pickups and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival buys, securing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around go-lives with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of focused cinema runs and rapid platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has indicated interest to pick up select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is direct: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, updated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a standard theatrical run for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception justifies. Watch 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 precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By skew, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on fan equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is spotlighting character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a island survival 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 known IP, the assembly is recognizable enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Three-year comps outline the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not preclude a day-date try from paying off when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror exceeded expectations in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they angle differently and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot consecutively, permits marketing to thread films through character spine and themes and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft conversations behind the 2026 slate hint at a continued emphasis on in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that spotlights mood and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that elevates tone over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta reframe that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work and world-building, which match well with fan conventions and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel essential. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that explode in larger rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the see here spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May load in summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s 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 clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a tease-and-hold strategy and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can win the holiday when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card use.

One-sentence dossiers

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 confront a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s intelligent companion grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: gothic-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 demanding boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the chain of command inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to menace, rooted in Cronin’s tactile craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting piece that plays with the fright of a child’s fragile POV. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. Positioning: major-studio and A-list fronted ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that pokes at of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fervors. Rating: to be announced. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family entangled with old terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBD. 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: unrevealed. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: pending. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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-precise speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three operational forces drive this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming landings. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work bite-size scare clips from test screenings, curated scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will line up across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, 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 tempo and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, audio design, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is IP strength where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.