Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primordial evil, a nerve shredding horror thriller, arriving October 2025 across global platforms

One terrifying spiritual fear-driven tale from narrative craftsman / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an forgotten nightmare when unfamiliar people become proxies in a diabolical contest. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving episode of continuance and old world terror that will redefine terror storytelling this Halloween season. Brought to life by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and atmospheric suspense flick follows five young adults who suddenly rise imprisoned in a isolated shack under the menacing dominion of Kyra, a cursed figure controlled by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Get ready to be enthralled by a filmic ride that weaves together bodily fright with folklore, unleashing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a mainstay theme in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reimagined when the beings no longer manifest externally, but rather from deep inside. This mirrors the most hidden shade of the victims. The result is a gripping psychological battle where the drama becomes a unforgiving tug-of-war between light and darkness.


In a remote wilderness, five friends find themselves contained under the possessive effect and curse of a haunted entity. As the group becomes unresisting to withstand her command, exiled and tracked by evils impossible to understand, they are forced to stand before their core terrors while the final hour unceasingly edges forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust escalates and associations crack, forcing each soul to reflect on their essence and the concept of self-determination itself. The pressure accelerate with every passing moment, delivering a nightmarish journey that connects otherworldly suspense with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to extract pure dread, an presence that predates humanity, emerging via soul-level flaws, and exposing a power that tests the soul when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra involved tapping into something deeper than fear. She is blind until the demon emerges, and that transition is shocking because it is so intimate.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be available for home viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing subscribers worldwide can dive into this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has attracted over strong viewer count.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Tune in for this visceral spiral into evil. Enter *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these ghostly lessons about our species.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and alerts from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across online outlets and visit youngandcursed.com.





Contemporary horror’s sea change: the 2025 cycle stateside slate interlaces old-world possession, underground frights, paired with returning-series thunder

Moving from survivor-centric dread suffused with legendary theology to installment follow-ups together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is emerging as the most complex plus blueprinted year in the past ten years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios stabilize the year by way of signature titles, in tandem streamers crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with ancestral chills. On the independent axis, the independent cohort is catching the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are disciplined, hence 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige terror resurfaces

The top end is active. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s distribution arm sets the tone with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. Booked into 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 port tuned to austere horror. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner sets loose the finale from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even with a familiar chassis, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: vintage toned fear, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It posts in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

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.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in 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 reads as sharp positioning. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws 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 IP: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, from Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Signals and Trends

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Forecast: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. 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. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 genre year to come: brand plays, non-franchise titles, as well as A stacked Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek The incoming horror season packs in short order with a January glut, after that unfolds through summer corridors, and straight through the year-end corridor, combining name recognition, untold stories, and strategic counterprogramming. Major distributors and platforms are relying on cost discipline, theatrical leads, and shareable marketing that elevate the slate’s entries into broad-appeal conversations.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has become the sturdy move in release strategies, a genre that can expand when it lands and still hedge the exposure when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year signaled to top brass that lean-budget pictures can command the national conversation, the following year kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum flowed into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles confirmed there is space for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that play globally. The aggregate for 2026 is a slate that is strikingly coherent across distributors, with strategic blocks, a spread of marquee IP and new concepts, and a refocused commitment on exclusive windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium on-demand and home platforms.

Executives say the space now behaves like a wildcard on the slate. Horror can roll out on most weekends, furnish a easy sell for marketing and vertical videos, and outstrip with patrons that line up on advance nights and hold through the sophomore frame if the title lands. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration signals comfort in that model. The calendar begins with a busy January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for counterweight, while saving space for a fall cadence that carries into spooky season and beyond. The program also shows the greater integration of specialized imprints and platforms that can stage a platform run, stoke social talk, and roll out at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is franchise tending across shared IP webs and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are looking to package story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that flags a new vibe or a lead change that connects a latest entry to a heyday. At the parallel to that, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are favoring tactile craft, practical gags and location-forward worlds. That convergence hands 2026 a confident blend of familiarity and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate plays that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the center, framing it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-focused installment. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the authorial approach hints at a roots-evoking framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on recognizable motifs, first images of characters, and a two-beat trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer alternative, this one will seek large awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three unique pushes. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is straightforward, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man adopts an virtual partner that becomes a murderous partner. The date places it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on uncanny-valley stunts and quick hits that melds affection and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a final title to become an headline beat closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are marketed as creative events, with a concept-forward tease and a second wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The pre-Halloween slot allows Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has established that a visceral, makeup-driven method can feel premium on a lean spend. Position this as a hard-R summer horror charge that pushes international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio books two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, extending a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is marketing 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 focus to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on minute detail and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s genre entries flow to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a tiered path that fortifies both debut momentum and subscription bumps in the downstream. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in archive usage, using editorial spots, genre hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on the horror cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about in-house releases and festival snaps, finalizing horror entries with shorter lead times and staging as events premieres with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a selective basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for retention when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 track with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, updated 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 telegraphed a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the September weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, guiding the film through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then pressing the December frame to open out. That positioning has worked well for elevated genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception supports. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using limited theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their user base.

Balance of brands and originals

By proportion, 2026 bends toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is overexposure. The near-term solution is to present each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is underscoring character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing 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 visionary-led titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the deal build is recognizable enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that held distribution windows did not stop a day-date move from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they rotate perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, lets marketing to connect the chapters through character web and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The director conversations behind the 2026 entries telegraph a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that underscores aura and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a preview that keeps plot minimal, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and produces shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature design and production design, which match well with expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that spotlight pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can win 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 cycled through premium screens.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and holiday gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s virtual companion escalates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the hierarchy inverts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

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 vision that returns the monster to chill, anchored by Cronin’s hands-on craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting story that routes the horror through a little one’s volatile personal vantage. Rating: pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody return that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: filming 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 stirs again, with a fresh family snared by lingering terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces structure this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and condensed timelines. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming landings. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest social-ready stingers from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Calendar math also matters. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, providing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will coexist across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 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 maximize those pockets. 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 navigate here titles. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the 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 runs hard, 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 fuel talk and ticketing 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 surface detail, soundscape, and image-making 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand power where it counts, original 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.