Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on top streamers

A terrifying spectral shockfest from author / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an long-buried evil when foreigners become victims in a malevolent experiment. Available on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing journey of survival and timeless dread that will redefine the horror genre this cool-weather season. Helmed by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and shadowy thriller follows five unknowns who snap to locked in a off-grid structure under the sinister control of Kyra, a tormented girl controlled by a ancient Old Testament spirit. Brace yourself to be ensnared by a narrative display that unites bone-deep fear with mystical narratives, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a historical concept in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is redefined when the presences no longer develop from external sources, but rather from within. This mirrors the darkest element of each of them. The result is a psychologically brutal internal warfare where the story becomes a merciless conflict between light and darkness.


In a remote backcountry, five teens find themselves confined under the sinister grip and overtake of a obscure being. As the youths becomes powerless to withstand her curse, severed and followed by terrors ungraspable, they are thrust to endure their greatest panics while the deathwatch harrowingly strikes toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread surges and relationships splinter, pushing each individual to examine their true nature and the integrity of independent thought itself. The pressure accelerate with every second, delivering a paranormal ride that harmonizes supernatural terror with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to extract core terror, an malevolence beyond time, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and challenging a entity that threatens selfhood when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra involved tapping into something beyond human emotion. She is in denial until the evil takes hold, and that flip is gut-wrenching because it is so deep.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing viewers globally can engage with this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its first preview, which has seen over notable views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, bringing the film to global fright lovers.


Join this unforgettable descent into hell. Experience *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these spiritual awakenings about mankind.


For film updates, special features, and announcements from behind the lens, follow @YACFilm across platforms and visit our spooky domain.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 season U.S. calendar integrates archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, set against series shake-ups

Moving from life-or-death fear drawn from near-Eastern lore and stretching into franchise returns together with focused festival visions, 2025 is tracking to be the most dimensioned and strategic year in years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio powerhouses hold down the year with familiar IP, at the same time SVOD players front-load the fall with discovery plays plus primordial unease. On another front, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is surfing the momentum from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween holding the peak, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, and 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a big gambit: a modernized Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Slated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. Pictures unveils the final movement within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re teams, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma driven plotting, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

SVOD Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in 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.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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. It is a calculated bet. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

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 appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, guided 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.

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

Signals and Trends

Mythic Horror Is 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 goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The upcoming scare lineup: next chapters, Originals, alongside A brimming Calendar calibrated for frights

Dek: The fresh horror year builds immediately with a January logjam, then unfolds through the mid-year, and far into the holiday stretch, fusing name recognition, new concepts, and strategic release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are relying on right-sized spends, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that turn these films into broad-appeal conversations.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has solidified as the steady release in programming grids, a space that can expand when it resonates and still safeguard the exposure when it does not. After 2023 reminded leaders that disciplined-budget chillers can lead pop culture, the following year continued the surge with filmmaker-forward plays and slow-burn breakouts. The upswing flowed into 2025, where resurrections and filmmaker-prestige bets highlighted there is room for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that carry overseas. The aggregate for 2026 is a programming that presents tight coordination across distributors, with defined corridors, a combination of marquee IP and new concepts, and a tightened priority on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on premium home window and streaming.

Insiders argue the genre now slots in as a utility player on the distribution slate. The genre can arrive on most weekends, supply a sharp concept for promo reels and short-form placements, and outpace with demo groups that appear on Thursday nights and hold through the second weekend if the title hits. In the wake of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 setup exhibits comfort in that engine. The slate starts with a weighty January schedule, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a late-year stretch that carries into the Halloween corridor and beyond. The grid also includes the expanded integration of specialized imprints and streamers that can platform a title, grow buzz, and widen at the right moment.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across ongoing universes and long-running brands. Studios are not just rolling another chapter. They are seeking to position threaded continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title treatment that telegraphs a re-angled tone or a talent selection that bridges a new entry to a first wave. At the simultaneously, the creative teams behind the most anticipated originals are prioritizing real-world builds, in-camera effects and grounded locations. That blend affords the 2026 slate a confident blend of comfort and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two big-ticket entries that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the lead, presenting it as both a passing of the torch and a rootsy character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture signals a roots-evoking framework without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive rooted in classic imagery, early character teases, and a trailer cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will spotlight. As a summer alternative, this one will drive general-audience talk through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick switches to whatever dominates genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three separate releases. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man installs an virtual partner that evolves into a fatal companion. The date positions it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back creepy live activations and snackable content that interweaves affection and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the initial tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are set up as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a later trailer push that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway offers Universal room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has made clear that a raw, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel premium on a mid-range budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror charge that spotlights worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio rolls out two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, carrying a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is framing 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 explicit mandate to serve both longtime followers and first-timers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build assets around narrative world, and monster design, elements that can fuel PLF interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is glowing.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that enhances both horror FOMO and viewer acquisition in the tail. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in archive usage, using prominent placements, Halloween hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps flexible 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, harnesses a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and rapid platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a situational basis. The platform has shown appetite to secure select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is uncomplicated: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, retooled for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, escorting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday slot to go wider. That positioning has delivered for elevated genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception warrants. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using small theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Franchises versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate bends toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness household recognition. The question, as ever, is diminishing returns. The standing approach is to market each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is centering core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-flavored turn from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the team and cast is known enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years clarify the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive window model that respected streaming windows did not deter a day-date move from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, director-craft horror surged in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot in tandem, enables marketing to bridge entries through relationships and themes and to continue assets in field without pause points.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the year’s horror indicate a continued bias toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights creep and texture rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and technical spotlights before rolling out a preview that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to booth activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that benefit on big speakers.

The schedule at a glance

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid heavier IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the menu of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Late winter and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that elevate concept over story.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genetic code. 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 bereaved man’s synthetic partner grows into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into 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 difficult boss push to survive on a uninhabited island as the power dynamic shifts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s hands-on craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 closed-door haunting tale that refracts terror through a kid’s unsteady personal vantage. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: major-studio and star-led paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further opens again, with a fresh family snared by older hauntings. Rating: pending. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 time-true diction and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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

Why the moment is 2026

Three execution-level forces organize this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming landings. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will compete across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can exploit 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 fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 lower and mid-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 press those advantages. 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 have a peek here 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.

Audience rhythm across 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 reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 sequence upward, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, audio design, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.