Age-old Horror Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising chiller, debuting Oct 2025 on major platforms

One bone-chilling mystic suspense story from narrative craftsman / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an forgotten terror when newcomers become vehicles in a malevolent ordeal. Available October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing depiction of continuance and forgotten curse that will resculpt scare flicks this season. Visualized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and gothic story follows five young adults who suddenly rise stranded in a wooded structure under the aggressive sway of Kyra, a mysterious girl occupied by a timeless ancient fiend. Be prepared to be drawn in by a immersive experience that intertwines soul-chilling terror with ancient myths, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a time-honored motif in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is flipped when the fiends no longer come from beyond, but rather through their own souls. This echoes the most hidden dimension of the protagonists. The result is a relentless cognitive warzone where the intensity becomes a brutal clash between right and wrong.


In a remote wild, five individuals find themselves imprisoned under the sinister force and haunting of a mysterious person. As the characters becomes unresisting to oppose her rule, left alone and followed by powers unnamable, they are driven to deal with their worst nightmares while the seconds mercilessly winds toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion mounts and associations collapse, forcing each protagonist to doubt their existence and the notion of volition itself. The consequences accelerate with every breath, delivering a chilling narrative that integrates otherworldly suspense with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to explore core terror, an entity that predates humanity, embedding itself in inner turmoil, and challenging a power that dismantles free will when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra involved tapping into something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the curse activates, and that transition is bone-chilling because it is so emotional.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving horror lovers everywhere can face this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has earned over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, making the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Join this cinematic journey into fear. Stream *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to experience these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For bonus footage, filmmaker commentary, and news from behind the lens, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit youngandcursed.com.





U.S. horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate melds old-world possession, independent shockers, paired with franchise surges

Moving from endurance-driven terror suffused with near-Eastern lore and including IP renewals as well as focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into the most dimensioned paired with calculated campaign year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio majors lay down anchors with established lines, in parallel premium streamers front-load the fall with fresh voices in concert with primordial unease. On the independent axis, indie storytellers is buoyed by the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and now, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, and 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

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

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a headline swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a modern-day environment. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Slated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. launches the swan song of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma explicitly handled, and eerie supernatural logic. The stakes escalate here, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It hits in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Digital Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters bet on familiarity, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also rising is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative featuring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of 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.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 looks like sharp programming. No bloated mythology. No IP hangover. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

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. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

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

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Season Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

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

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The upcoming chiller slate: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, plus A Crowded Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek: The brand-new genre slate crams up front with a January wave, thereafter unfolds through the mid-year, and continuing into the holiday frame, weaving name recognition, creative pitches, and shrewd calendar placement. The major players are focusing on responsible budgets, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that convert the slate’s entries into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror has emerged as the dependable tool in studio slates, a segment that can break out when it resonates and still buffer the liability when it stumbles. After 2023 re-taught decision-makers that efficiently budgeted scare machines can galvanize audience talk, 2024 maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and unexpected risers. The trend carried into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is an opening for different modes, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a roster that reads highly synchronized across the market, with obvious clusters, a harmony of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a refocused priority on exclusive windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the genre now behaves like a plug-and-play option on the calendar. Horror can roll out on most weekends, generate a clean hook for teasers and social clips, and outpace with patrons that turn out on first-look nights and keep coming through the week two if the entry hits. In the wake of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 layout underscores trust in that setup. The slate kicks off with a loaded January run, then primes spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while holding room for a fall run that flows toward late October and past Halloween. The schedule also highlights the ongoing integration of specialty arms and streamers that can stage a platform run, fuel WOM, and expand at the strategic time.

An added macro current is brand management across linked properties and storied titles. Distribution groups are not just releasing another sequel. They are aiming to frame story carry-over with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that signals a tonal shift or a casting choice that links a latest entry to a foundational era. At the same time, the helmers behind the top original plays are doubling down on hands-on technique, practical effects and vivid settings. That mix gives 2026 a healthy mix of known notes and novelty, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount defines the early cadence with two centerpiece moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the center, presenting it as both a succession moment and a back-to-basics character-centered film. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a memory-charged treatment without covering again the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive stacked with recognizable motifs, character previews, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will hunt wide buzz through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format making room for quick switches to whatever defines the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined entries. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is simple, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an algorithmic mate that mutates into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to echo off-kilter promo beats and micro Source spots that melds love and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s work are marketed as auteur events, with a concept-forward tease and a later creative that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot allows Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, hands-on effects method can feel top-tier on a tight budget. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror jolt that leans this page hard into worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand active 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 found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both devotees and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and creature work, elements that can drive premium format interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in careful craft and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus has already set the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is glowing.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s horror titles shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that optimizes both opening-weekend urgency and subscription bumps in the later phase. Prime Video continues to mix catalogue additions with world buys and short theatrical plays when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library curation, using editorial spots, October hubs, and curated rows to maximize the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival wins, slotting horror entries toward the drop and framing as events go-lives with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown a willingness to invest in select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 sequence with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is direct: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, reimagined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception prompts. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using targeted theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By weight, 2026 is weighted toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage marquee value. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The pragmatic answer is to position each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is centering character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles deliver oxygen. 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, places Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the team and cast is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns help explain the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not foreclose a same-day experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror outperformed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and elevate scope. 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 double feature plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, enables marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror signal a continued emphasis on tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that emphasizes unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and drives shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-aware reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster work and world-building, which fit with fan conventions and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that foreground fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Annual flow

January is full. 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 atmospheric change-up amid headline IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the menu of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 set up the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now accommodates 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late summer into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited teasers that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion escalates into something seductively lethal. 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse 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 meet a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss push to survive on a isolated island as the hierarchy tilts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to chill, rooted in Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 domestic haunting story that routes the horror through a preteen’s wavering internal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

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 parody return that lampoons current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 bursts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family entangled horror with past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: not yet rated. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 era-accurate language and ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three operational forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

The slot calculus is real. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will cluster across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, 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 evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.