Primordial Dread Stirs in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising thriller, landing October 2025 across major streaming services

A spine-tingling ghostly terror film from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an age-old entity when outsiders become proxies in a dark ordeal. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing portrayal of resilience and age-old darkness that will revolutionize scare flicks this ghoul season. Created by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick screenplay follows five people who regain consciousness stuck in a cut-off hideaway under the malevolent dominion of Kyra, a haunted figure consumed by a two-thousand-year-old holy text monster. Brace yourself to be gripped by a visual ride that weaves together bodily fright with ancient myths, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a iconic concept in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is flipped when the spirits no longer appear outside the characters, but rather inside them. This symbolizes the deepest version of these individuals. The result is a intense cognitive warzone where the story becomes a unforgiving confrontation between righteousness and malevolence.


In a barren landscape, five youths find themselves stuck under the ghastly grip and overtake of a haunted entity. As the team becomes submissive to resist her command, marooned and attacked by powers beyond reason, they are required to battle their darkest emotions while the hours unceasingly counts down toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease mounts and relationships disintegrate, forcing each individual to challenge their character and the notion of personal agency itself. The danger amplify with every tick, delivering a chilling narrative that harmonizes ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dig into raw dread, an entity that existed before mankind, influencing inner turmoil, and highlighting a darkness that redefines identity when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra was about accessing something beyond human emotion. She is oblivious until the demon emerges, and that transition is deeply unsettling because it is so intimate.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering households around the globe can get immersed in this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original promo, which has garnered over strong viewer count.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to scare fans abroad.


Make sure to see this soul-jarring path of possession. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to see these terrifying truths about free will.


For featurettes, on-set glimpses, and social posts from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit the film’s website.





Today’s horror inflection point: the year 2025 U.S. calendar weaves old-world possession, independent shockers, set against legacy-brand quakes

Beginning with life-or-death fear inspired by primordial scripture and extending to franchise returns together with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is tracking to be the most complex plus calculated campaign year for the modern era.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year with familiar IP, simultaneously digital services crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs alongside archetypal fear. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, notably this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are precise, so 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are assertive. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. timed for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer wanes, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re engages, and the tone that worked before is intact: retrograde shiver, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. Here the stakes rise, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, reaching teens and game grownups. It opens in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Low budgets, big teeth

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, an intimate body horror unraveling fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative with Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 overstuffed canon. No canon weight. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

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

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

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

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forward View: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

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 play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The next genre release year: entries, Originals, plus A loaded Calendar designed for shocks

Dek: The upcoming genre cycle loads up front with a January logjam, subsequently rolls through midyear, and well into the festive period, blending marquee clout, original angles, and tactical offsets. The major players are doubling down on right-sized spends, box-office-first windows, and influencer-ready assets that transform these films into national conversation.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has established itself as the steady release in studio lineups, a category that can surge when it lands and still insulate the floor when it misses. After the 2023 year showed buyers that disciplined-budget scare machines can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 held pace with visionary-driven titles and slow-burn breakouts. The trend extended into 2025, where revivals and filmmaker-prestige bets proved there is space for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that resonate abroad. The net effect for 2026 is a calendar that seems notably aligned across players, with intentional bunching, a blend of household franchises and untested plays, and a refocused eye on cinema windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on PVOD and home platforms.

Executives say the space now functions as a flex slot on the programming map. Horror can arrive on a wide range of weekends, furnish a clean hook for trailers and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with fans that come out on advance nights and hold through the second weekend if the feature satisfies. After a work stoppage lag, the 2026 mapping demonstrates assurance in that equation. The slate starts with a crowded January block, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while keeping space for a autumn push that extends to Halloween and past the holiday. The arrangement also spotlights the deeper integration of specialty arms and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, create conversation, and widen at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is brand management across ongoing universes and established properties. The players are not just greenlighting another continuation. They are looking to package lore continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title treatment that signals a re-angled tone or a lead change that bridges a fresh chapter to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the creative teams behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into tactile craft, on-set effects and distinct locales. That fusion hands 2026 a smart balance of recognition and invention, which is how the films export.

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

Paramount opens strong with two prominent releases that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a relay and a foundation-forward character study. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a heritage-honoring approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with heritage visuals, character-first teases, and a staggered trailer plan hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue large awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever defines pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is crisp, tragic, and big-hook: a grieving man onboards an machine companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to recreate eerie street stunts and short-cut promos that fuses romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under code names 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 name unveil to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are branded as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that define feel without revealing the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a gritty, on-set effects led method can feel deluxe on a controlled budget. Look for a red-band summer horror rush that leans hard into overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio books two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, continuing a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is positioning as a reset 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 well-defined brief to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign creative around universe detail, and creature work, elements that can stoke premium screens and cosplayer momentum.

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 continues Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by rigorous craft and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The distributor has already set the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre entries move to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a sequence that enhances both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the back half. Prime Video blends third-party pickups with global pickups and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library pulls, using well-timed internal promotions, horror hubs, and curated strips to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival additions, finalizing horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of selective theatrical runs and accelerated platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown appetite to take on select projects with name filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 sequence with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clear: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, refined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a big-screen first plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas corridor to broaden. That positioning has served the company well for arthouse horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify this contact form after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception merits. 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 as partners, using limited theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The standing approach is to present each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is bringing forward character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-driven titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the team and cast is steady enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps frame the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that maintained windows did not block a parallel release from winning when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they rotate perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on 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 filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through personae and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror signal a continued bias toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that foregrounds aura and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in feature stories and department features before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature and environment design, which work nicely for booth activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel necessary. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

From winter to holidays

January is stacked. 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 somber counterpoint amid larger brand plays. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May stage summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges 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 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that favor idea over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s algorithmic partner turns into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: mood-led 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 tough boss claw to survive on a cut-off island as the control dynamic shifts and fear crawls. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting chiller that threads the dread through a preteen’s unreliable subjective lens. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-financed and name-above-title supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A parody return that skewers today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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: pending. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family bound to past horrors. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-core horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. 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 language and ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or rearranged in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine meme-ready beats from test screenings, select scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth factor is programming math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

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-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, 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 preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate 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 warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Promising 2026

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is franchise muscle where it helps, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.