Age-old Horror emerges: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding feature, rolling out October 2025 on leading streamers

A chilling paranormal nightmare movie from cinematographer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic force when foreigners become pawns in a satanic ritual. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish tale of struggle and timeless dread that will reimagine fear-driven cinema this cool-weather season. Produced by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five figures who awaken ensnared in a cut-off cottage under the aggressive rule of Kyra, a young woman controlled by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Get ready to be captivated by a immersive ride that combines bone-deep fear with biblical origins, arriving on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a time-honored trope in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is reimagined when the presences no longer develop from a different plane, but rather from their core. This marks the haunting shade of the victims. The result is a edge-of-seat cognitive warzone where the emotions becomes a unyielding push-pull between moral forces.


In a barren woodland, five campers find themselves isolated under the possessive aura and domination of a haunted being. As the survivors becomes helpless to fight her grasp, isolated and attacked by evils beyond comprehension, they are confronted to deal with their greatest panics while the timeline brutally winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear mounts and ties erode, demanding each protagonist to contemplate their true nature and the principle of independent thought itself. The cost magnify with every fleeting time, delivering a scare-fueled ride that weaves together supernatural terror with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to tap into core terror, an threat rooted in antiquity, manipulating human fragility, and dealing with a spirit that erodes the self when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant evoking something beneath mortal despair. She is blind until the demon emerges, and that metamorphosis is bone-chilling because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audience access beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—allowing fans everywhere can watch this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its intro video, which has gathered over six-figure audience.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, making the film to a global viewership.


Be sure to catch this haunted spiral into evil. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to dive into these haunting secrets about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and press updates directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursed across entertainment pages and visit our spooky domain.





American horror’s pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate Mixes ancient-possession motifs, signature indie scares, alongside brand-name tremors

Running from last-stand terror drawn from legendary theology to series comebacks set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated together with intentionally scheduled year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. leading studios bookend the months by way of signature titles, in tandem subscription platforms front-load the fall with new voices plus scriptural shivers. On the festival side, festival-forward creators is propelled by the kinetic energy from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, distinctly in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are disciplined, so 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s pipeline lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. set for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Guided by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: 70s style chill, trauma foregrounded, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time the stakes climb, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The return delves further into myth, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No legacy baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Heritage Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror returns
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 spook Year Ahead: returning titles, standalone ideas, And A hectic Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek The arriving terror year clusters early with a January wave, after that spreads through midyear, and pushing into the holiday frame, weaving franchise firepower, inventive spins, and calculated offsets. Major distributors and platforms are embracing responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and buzz-forward plans that elevate these offerings into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has grown into the predictable lever in studio calendars, a lane that can break out when it connects and still limit the liability when it does not. After the 2023 year demonstrated to executives that disciplined-budget fright engines can dominate social chatter, 2024 extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and surprise hits. The energy carried into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays confirmed there is an opening for multiple flavors, from continued chapters to fresh IP that export nicely. The result for 2026 is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across the market, with planned clusters, a balance of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a revived focus on theatrical windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and streaming.

Executives say the category now operates like a schedule utility on the grid. Horror can premiere on nearly any frame, generate a grabby hook for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and exceed norms with audiences that arrive on Thursday previews and sustain through the second weekend if the release pays off. Following a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout exhibits confidence in that engine. The year commences with a loaded January lineup, then leans on spring and early summer for balance, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that pushes into the fright window and into November. The arrangement also shows the deeper integration of arthouse labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, create conversation, and scale up at the timely point.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across shared universes and legacy franchises. Big banners are not just producing another follow-up. They are setting up threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that announces a re-angled tone or a star attachment that binds a incoming chapter to a heyday. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into practical craft, real effects and site-specific worlds. That mix yields 2026 a confident blend of familiarity and shock, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount establishes early momentum with two centerpiece moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream weblink 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the front, presenting it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character-centered film. Production is active in Atlanta, and the story approach points to a throwback-friendly approach without repeating the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive anchored in recognizable motifs, initial cast looks, and a tiered teaser plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will lean on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will chase mainstream recognition through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three distinct pushes. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is clean, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a harmful mate. The date sets it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to bring back eerie street stunts and micro spots that blurs devotion and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a name unveil to become an fan moment closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are set up as signature events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date creates space for Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a in-your-face, makeup-driven treatment can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror hit that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, holding a bankable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is calling a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both devotees and fresh viewers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build promo materials around world-building, and creature work, elements that can increase deluxe auditorium demand and fan-forward engagement.

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 driven by obsessive craft and textual fidelity, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that optimizes both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video combines catalogue additions with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on the horror cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, timing horror entries tight to release and making event-like go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a per-project basis. The platform has been willing to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 arc with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is tight: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, refined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then using the holiday slot to expand. That positioning has shown results for auteur horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using precision theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By proportion, 2026 skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap name recognition. The risk, as ever, is staleness. The standing approach is to sell each entry as a new angle. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a European tilt from a emerging director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is comforting enough to build pre-sales and early previews.

Comps from the last three years clarify the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not Source block a day-date try from working when the brand was strong. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues 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 produced back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character and theme and to maintain a flow of assets without extended gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind 2026 horror indicate a continued move toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that spotlights atmosphere and fear rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft features before rolling out a initial teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which match well with expo activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. 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 quiet contrast amid headline IP. The month caps 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 meaningful, but the spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Late winter and spring stage summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a late-September window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a peekaboo tease plan and limited plot reveals that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion grows into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 organizes 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 ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 hard-edged boss claw to survive on a far-flung island as the pecking order inverts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to nightmare, built on Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that explores the fright of a child’s tricky read. Rating: TBD. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

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 spoof revival that lampoons modern genre fads and true crime preoccupations. 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 multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new family bound to lingering terrors. Rating: pending. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and primal menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that stalled or rearranged in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, curated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Calendar math also matters. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will cluster across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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

The breakout hunt continues in Q1, where value-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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, 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 sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sonics, and picture 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the shocks sell the seats.