Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on premium platforms

One frightening spiritual fear-driven tale from narrative craftsman / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an timeless horror when passersby become pawns in a satanic maze. Debuting on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful episode of survival and archaic horror that will alter terror storytelling this spooky time. Realized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick fearfest follows five young adults who wake up stranded in a cut-off cabin under the aggressive will of Kyra, a cursed figure haunted by a biblical-era sacrosanct terror. Ready yourself to be hooked by a theatrical display that unites bone-deep fear with ancestral stories, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a time-honored pillar in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is reversed when the forces no longer develop outside the characters, but rather from deep inside. This echoes the haunting side of every character. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the plotline becomes a constant clash between innocence and sin.


In a haunting natural abyss, five characters find themselves isolated under the ominous sway and infestation of a mysterious female figure. As the characters becomes incapacitated to reject her influence, left alone and tracked by entities beyond comprehension, they are obligated to reckon with their deepest fears while the doomsday meter harrowingly draws closer toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion amplifies and friendships fracture, urging each individual to evaluate their identity and the idea of autonomy itself. The cost intensify with every instant, delivering a paranormal ride that fuses mystical fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to awaken basic terror, an power older than civilization itself, filtering through our fears, and wrestling with a force that erodes the self when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra meant channeling something beyond human emotion. She is oblivious until the control shifts, and that transformation is bone-chilling because it is so intimate.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing users around the globe can experience this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over 100,000 views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, giving access to the movie to a global viewership.


Mark your calendar for this visceral path of possession. Face *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to survive these evil-rooted truths about the human condition.


For exclusive trailers, production insights, and announcements from inside the story, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across social media and visit the official digital haunt.





Today’s horror decisive shift: 2025 for genre fans American release plan braids together primeval-possession lore, microbudget gut-punches, set against Franchise Rumbles

Running from endurance-driven terror saturated with scriptural legend all the way to returning series together with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is tracking to be horror’s most layered together with carefully orchestrated year in a decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios bookend the months with established lines, even as subscription platforms load up the fall with first-wave breakthroughs and ancient terrors. Across the art-house lane, horror’s indie wing is catching the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Since Halloween is the prized date, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A fat September–October lane is customary now, however this time, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are calculated, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium dread reemerges

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s distribution arm lights the fuse with a headline swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, instead in a current-day frame. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner’s slate delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson resumes command, and those signature textures resurface: throwback unease, trauma as text, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The return delves further into myth, grows the animatronic horror lineup, courting teens and the thirty something base. It opens in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable led by 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 title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed 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. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

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

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

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.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Key Trends

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

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

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: 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, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

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 mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching chiller release year: Sequels, filmmaker-first projects, in tandem with A hectic Calendar geared toward goosebumps

Dek: The brand-new horror cycle lines up early with a January wave, after that flows through midyear, and pushing into the holiday frame, braiding series momentum, original angles, and data-minded counterplay. Studios and streamers are committing to smart costs, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that position genre releases into all-audience topics.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has solidified as the consistent tool in release plans, a genre that can surge when it catches and still safeguard the exposure when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to decision-makers that low-to-mid budget entries can shape the national conversation, the following year kept energy high with director-led heat and unexpected risers. The carry fed into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers made clear there is an opening for several lanes, from sequel tracks to original one-offs that play globally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a run that presents tight coordination across the market, with defined corridors, a mix of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a refocused attention on big-screen windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and SVOD.

Executives say the horror lane now operates like a versatile piece on the distribution slate. The genre can kick off on numerous frames, provide a clean hook for promo reels and social clips, and punch above weight with fans that lean in on opening previews and return through the second frame if the feature connects. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern indicates conviction in that engine. The slate starts with a loaded January window, then taps spring and early summer for balance, while saving space for a late-year stretch that runs into All Hallows period and into November. The schedule also features the increasing integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can build gradually, ignite recommendations, and grow at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and storied titles. The players are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are aiming to frame ongoing narrative with a heightened moment, whether that is a title presentation that announces a new tone or a cast configuration that threads a next film to a vintage era. At the simultaneously, the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into real-world builds, physical gags and concrete locations. That pairing offers the 2026 slate a solid mix of comfort and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount opens strong with two prominent titles 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 heart, marketing it as both a succession moment and a return-to-roots character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a heritage-honoring campaign without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on brand visuals, intro reveals, and a tiered teaser plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will generate four-quadrant chatter through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, sorrow-tinged, and easily pitched: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that shifts into a perilous partner. The date positions it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to mirror viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that blurs intimacy and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a public title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His entries are presented as marquee events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to command 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a visceral, on-set effects led method can feel premium on a lean spend. Position this as a hard-R summer horror blast that emphasizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, maintaining a consistent supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart 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 directive to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around canon, and practical creature work, elements that can amplify format premiums and fandom activation.

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 rooted in meticulous craft and period speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is warm.

Platform lanes and windowing

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The Universal horror run head to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a cadence that enhances both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the tail. Prime Video stitches together outside acquisitions with world buys and limited runs in theaters when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in archive usage, using editorial spots, October hubs, and handpicked rows to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival pickups, scheduling horror entries on shorter runways and turning into events rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a hybrid of targeted cinema placements and fast windowing that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a selective basis. The platform has signaled readiness to pick up select projects with acclaimed directors or marquee packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 arc with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is no-nonsense: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, elevated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas corridor to move out. That positioning has paid off for prestige horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception merits. Look for 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 as partners, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

Legacy titles versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap name recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The workable fix is to pitch each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a fresh helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and talent-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is grounded enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the plan. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not block a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, auteur craft horror rose in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

How the films are being made

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the upcoming entries forecast a continued shift toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that spotlights texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in trade spotlights and technical spotlights before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature and environment design, which work nicely for convention floor stunts and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that accent razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar cadence

January is jammed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month ends 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 credible, but the variety of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Late Q1 and spring stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans my review here recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card spend.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s algorithmic partner shifts into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

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 unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the power balance upends and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to terror, based on Cronin’s material craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting narrative that plays with the unease of a child’s tricky POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-built and toplined ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 spreads, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a different family anchored to long-buried horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: closely held. Rating: undetermined. Production: proceeding. 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 period language and elemental fear. Rating: TBA. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that eased or shifted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will jostle across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, 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 texture, aural design, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is IP strength where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, 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, craft precise trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.