Age-old Dread stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One frightening supernatural shockfest from writer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an archaic evil when unfamiliar people become victims in a satanic ordeal. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching narrative of endurance and age-old darkness that will remodel scare flicks this October. Crafted by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and claustrophobic suspense flick follows five lost souls who suddenly rise stranded in a wilderness-bound cottage under the hostile control of Kyra, a troubled woman dominated by a 2,000-year-old Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be hooked by a visual adventure that integrates intense horror with ancestral stories, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a classic element in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is reversed when the dark entities no longer form from elsewhere, but rather through their own souls. This symbolizes the darkest side of all involved. The result is a riveting mental war where the intensity becomes a unyielding fight between purity and corruption.


In a bleak woodland, five campers find themselves stuck under the ominous effect and control of a elusive female presence. As the characters becomes submissive to combat her control, stranded and tracked by spirits ungraspable, they are driven to confront their core terrors while the final hour brutally winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease intensifies and friendships splinter, demanding each member to examine their personhood and the nature of personal agency itself. The danger magnify with every heartbeat, delivering a scare-fueled ride that marries paranormal dread with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to dig into core terror, an spirit that existed before mankind, manipulating our weaknesses, and challenging a power that tests the soul when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra meant channeling something deeper than fear. She is unaware until the demon emerges, and that evolution is soul-crushing because it is so internal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing watchers globally can face this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its first preview, which has racked up over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, giving access to the movie to fans of fear everywhere.


Join this life-altering journey into fear. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to see these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For bonus footage, director cuts, and news from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your socials and visit our spooky domain.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: the year 2025 U.S. release slate braids together biblical-possession ideas, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside brand-name tremors

Across fight-to-live nightmare stories grounded in near-Eastern lore and including brand-name continuations plus pointed art-house angles, 2025 is coalescing into the richest paired with intentionally scheduled year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors lock in tentpoles through proven series, simultaneously SVOD players prime the fall with debut heat plus primordial unease. On another front, the art-house flank is riding the tailwinds from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

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

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s slate sets the tone with a statement play: a reconceived Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. Guided by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. set for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer wanes, the WB camp delivers the closing chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma foregrounded, and eerie supernatural logic. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It lands in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold case horror anthology lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend featuring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. 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 Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No overinflated mythology. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

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, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

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. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, 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.

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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic horror goes 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 exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror comes roaring back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival glow translates to 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
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror cycle: continuations, Originals, alongside A packed Calendar tailored for shocks

Dek: The brand-new horror cycle builds right away with a January glut, and then carries through the mid-year, and far into the winter holidays, combining franchise firepower, novel approaches, and calculated counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are doubling down on lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and influencer-ready assets that convert these pictures into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has turned into the dependable lever in programming grids, a category that can break out when it connects and still cushion the liability when it underperforms. After the 2023 year proved to executives that disciplined-budget fright engines can dominate social chatter, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The carry fed into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and festival-grade titles proved there is capacity for many shades, from returning installments to non-IP projects that translate worldwide. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a schedule that feels more orchestrated than usual across the industry, with planned clusters, a combination of known properties and new pitches, and a tightened emphasis on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium on-demand and OTT platforms.

Distribution heads claim the category now works like a schedule utility on the schedule. The genre can bow on virtually any date, yield a sharp concept for teasers and short-form placements, and over-index with fans that come out on early shows and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the feature connects. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping exhibits confidence in that model. The calendar launches with a loaded January block, then targets spring into early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a fall run that carries into holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The calendar also includes the greater integration of boutique distributors and subscription services that can platform a title, build word of mouth, and broaden at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is franchise tending across unified worlds and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just rolling another installment. They are seeking to position lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a tonal shift or a talent selection that anchors a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into in-camera technique, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That blend affords the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and invention, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent titles that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the center, presenting it as both a lineage transfer and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the story approach telegraphs a fan-service aware treatment without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push anchored in recognizable motifs, character spotlights, and a tease cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off 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 as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will build large awareness through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick redirects to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three unique bets. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that turns into a dangerous lover. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to iterate on creepy live activations and short-cut promos that threads companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an attention spike closer to the early tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. The filmmaker’s films are marketed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a mystery-first teaser and a later trailer push that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date opens a lane 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has established that a visceral, practical-effects forward treatment can feel top-tier on a lean spend. Expect a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that embraces foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, holding a dependable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is describing as a reimagined 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 well-defined brief to serve both loyalists and curious audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build artifacts around setting detail, and creature effects, elements that can lift IMAX and PLF uptake 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 advances Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is supportive.

Streaming windows and tactics

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run transition to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a tiered path that enhances both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the after-window. Prime Video blends acquired titles with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library engagement, using prominent placements, fright rows, and curated strips to prolong the run on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about original films and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries closer to launch and making event-like debuts with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a laddered of precision theatrical plays and accelerated platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to invest in select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for sustained usage when the genre conversation builds.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 lane with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is clean: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, upgraded for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a theatrical rollout for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the late stretch.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas corridor to widen. That positioning has paid off for prestige horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace 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 plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By number, the 2026 slate favors the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use brand equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand wear. The standing approach is to package each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is emphasizing character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the assembly is familiar enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Recent comps illuminate the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept clean windows did not prevent a dual release from thriving when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in premium large format. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they rotate perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 lensed back-to-back, allows marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without pause points.

Craft check over here and creative trends

The filmmaking conversations behind 2026 horror hint at a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that leans on atmosphere and fear rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for textured sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and guild coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature design and production design, which fit with fan conventions and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is packed. 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 brooding contrast amid larger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the menu of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a peekaboo tease plan and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s artificial companion mutates into something deadly 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 severe boss scramble to survive on a uninhabited island as the chain of command reverses and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to horror, rooted in Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 intimate haunting tale that interrogates the terror of a child’s wobbly read. Rating: forthcoming. Production: completed. Positioning: major-studio and star-fronted haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A comic send-up that satirizes current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a another family caught in residual nightmares. Rating: forthcoming. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: to be announced. Production: underway. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on time-true diction and elemental menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 and why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will jostle across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 midrange-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 sleeper overperformer 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, 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 momentum and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 stack through the year, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, and visual design 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 Looks Exciting

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.