Primordial Dread Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding thriller, bowing October 2025 across top streamers

A spine-tingling occult terror film from storyteller / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an forgotten horror when drifters become vehicles in a satanic conflict. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching tale of resilience and archaic horror that will revolutionize the fear genre this ghoul season. Guided by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and shadowy thriller follows five people who come to imprisoned in a hidden structure under the unfriendly rule of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a timeless biblical force. Prepare to be ensnared by a visual event that fuses soul-chilling terror with arcane tradition, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a classic foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is flipped when the malevolences no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather from their psyche. This echoes the most terrifying shade of all involved. The result is a relentless inner struggle where the emotions becomes a soul-crushing battle between moral forces.


In a barren wilderness, five characters find themselves cornered under the malicious control and grasp of a unknown being. As the ensemble becomes powerless to escape her control, detached and tracked by terrors beyond comprehension, they are confronted to endure their inner horrors while the doomsday meter without pause counts down toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear escalates and links implode, demanding each participant to reconsider their self and the principle of freedom of choice itself. The intensity climb with every beat, delivering a fear-soaked story that marries unearthly horror with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dig into ancestral fear, an power that existed before mankind, emerging via our fears, and dealing with a entity that tests the soul when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra asked for exploring something unfamiliar to reason. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that transition is eerie because it is so private.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—delivering customers globally can experience this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, making the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Experience this visceral descent into darkness. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this launch day to see these dark realities about our species.


For director insights, director cuts, and updates from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit the official movie site.





American horror’s major pivot: 2025 across markets domestic schedule weaves Mythic Possession, microbudget gut-punches, plus returning-series thunder

From survival horror inspired by old testament echoes through to legacy revivals plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 looks like the richest and intentionally scheduled year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. Major studios lock in tentpoles with known properties, in tandem streamers load up the fall with emerging auteurs plus ancient terrors. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is riding the echoes of a banner 2024 fest year. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, notably this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are disciplined, thus 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: The Return of Prestige Fear

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the base, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp leads off the quarter with a statement play: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. From director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Guided by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline releases the last chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson is back, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retro dread, trauma foregrounded, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This run ups the stakes, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The new chapter enriches the lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, reaching teens and game grownups. It opens in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Next comes Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled 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 terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No series drag. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Franchise Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Emerging Currents

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
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 does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror retakes ground
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. 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. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

What’s Next: Autumn density and winter pivot

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

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 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The oncoming spook lineup: Sequels, filmmaker-first projects, and also A stacked Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek The arriving horror slate crowds immediately with a January wave, thereafter runs through summer corridors, and far into the winter holidays, marrying franchise firepower, new concepts, and data-minded release strategy. Studios with streamers are embracing right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that convert horror entries into water-cooler talk.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror has turned into the dependable tool in distribution calendars, a space that can spike when it clicks and still safeguard the drawdown when it doesn’t. After 2023 reconfirmed for decision-makers that efficiently budgeted scare machines can dominate mainstream conversation, the following year carried the beat with buzzy auteur projects and stealth successes. The tailwind flowed into 2025, where reboots and festival-grade titles signaled there is space for varied styles, from legacy continuations to fresh IP that scale internationally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a slate that looks unusually coordinated across the field, with clear date clusters, a combination of legacy names and new packages, and a renewed focus on exhibition windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Marketers add the category now works like a fill-in ace on the rollout map. The genre can arrive on numerous frames, offer a tight logline for teasers and shorts, and punch above weight with crowds that turn out on Thursday nights and maintain momentum through the second frame if the feature pays off. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 rhythm indicates conviction in that logic. The year launches with a busy January schedule, then primes spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a autumn stretch that connects to All Hallows period and into early November. The layout also includes the continuing integration of specialty arms and platforms that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and scale up at the proper time.

A parallel macro theme is IP cultivation across brand ecosystems and heritage properties. The companies are not just rolling another continuation. They are working to present threaded continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a logo package that announces a new vibe or a casting move that connects a next film to a early run. At the concurrently, the auteurs behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring material texture, real effects and distinct locales. That pairing offers 2026 a vital pairing of assurance and invention, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount defines the early cadence with two marquee moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the core, marketing it as both a succession moment and a back-to-basics character-centered film. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach announces a classic-referencing framework without looping the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Expect a marketing push fueled by brand visuals, first-look character reveals, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever drives the discourse that spring.

Universal has three specific bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is straightforward, tragic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man activates an digital partner that unfolds into a killer companion. The date puts it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to iterate on eerie street stunts and micro spots that hybridizes love and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the initial tease. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His entries are marketed as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second beat that define feel without revealing the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date affords Universal to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has established that a tactile, on-set effects led strategy can feel top-tier on a tight budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror jolt that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio sets two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres great post to read August 21, 2026, keeping a trusty supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is calling a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both fans and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around setting detail, and practical creature work, elements that can lift format premiums and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on minute detail and linguistic texture, this time set against lycan legends. The label has already locked the day for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is favorable.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s slate move to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ordering that optimizes both initial urgency and platform bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances catalogue additions with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in catalog engagement, using editorial spots, spooky hubs, and curated strips to keep attention on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps optionality about original films and festival pickups, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and turning into events launches with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a paired of targeted theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to take on select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 lane 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 angle is clear: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, upgraded for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the September weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday frame to go wider. That positioning has served the company well for craft-driven 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 usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception allows. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using limited theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The standing approach is to sell each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Three-year comps illuminate the playbook. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not stop a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, precision craft horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, builds a path for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the upcoming entries forecast a continued preference for tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will check over here 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 closed principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft spotlights before rolling out a teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and creates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta reframe that centers its original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature craft and set design, which match well with convention floor stunts and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that center razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that sing on PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is crowded. 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 moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring build the summer base. Scream 7 lands February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a late-September window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited previews that lean on concept not plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s synthetic partner evolves into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: aura-driven 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 try to survive on a far-flung island as the power balance swivels and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to menace, based on Cronin’s practical effects and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 closed-door haunting chiller that twists the panic of a child’s unreliable POV. Rating: rating pending. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-scale and star-fronted ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A send-up revival that riffs on modern genre fads and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further extends again, with a fresh family entangled with old terrors. Rating: pending. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: TBD. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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-specific language and primal menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 and why now

Three grounded forces frame this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or recalendared in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate bite-size scare clips from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 stealth-hit search 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, 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 buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 icy, 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 scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, 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 surface detail, sound, and visuals 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.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand equity where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.