Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across major streaming services

This spine-tingling otherworldly shockfest from storyteller / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an ancient fear when passersby become victims in a cursed conflict. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing saga of resilience and ancient evil that will reimagine the horror genre this October. Created by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and claustrophobic motion picture follows five unacquainted souls who regain consciousness ensnared in a off-grid cabin under the ominous manipulation of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a time-worn religious nightmare. Be warned to be shaken by a big screen experience that combines gut-punch terror with mythic lore, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a time-honored motif in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reimagined when the monsters no longer descend externally, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the darkest facet of every character. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the drama becomes a constant clash between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken woodland, five souls find themselves stuck under the malicious control and control of a elusive figure. As the ensemble becomes incapacitated to break her control, cut off and followed by spirits beyond comprehension, they are pushed to deal with their worst nightmares while the clock unforgivingly pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension mounts and partnerships erode, requiring each protagonist to doubt their true nature and the philosophy of free will itself. The danger rise with every second, delivering a scare-fueled ride that marries unearthly horror with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dig into pure dread, an evil from prehistory, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and confronting a presence that threatens selfhood when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra was centered on something beyond human emotion. She is uninformed until the possession kicks in, and that pivot is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring subscribers around the globe can enjoy this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has collected over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, bringing the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable descent into darkness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to acknowledge these unholy truths about free will.


For previews, production news, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your socials and visit our film’s homepage.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 season stateside slate melds ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, alongside series shake-ups

Beginning with endurance-driven terror inspired by biblical myth as well as installment follow-ups set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 is coalescing into the most stratified as well as tactically planned year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio majors bookend the months via recognizable brands, in tandem OTT services front-load the fall with unboxed visions as well as scriptural shivers. In parallel, the artisan tier is catching the carry of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are methodical, thus 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate begins the calendar with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate unveils the final movement within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson re boards, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The return delves further into myth, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It hits in December, buttoning the final window.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a room scale body horror descent led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is destined for a fall landing.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Scripted and led 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 hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. 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.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is a calculated bet. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Key Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror resurges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

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

The big screen is a trust exercise
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The approaching spook slate: follow-ups, standalone ideas, in tandem with A loaded Calendar engineered for goosebumps

Dek The fresh genre season stacks from the jump with a January crush, following that spreads through midyear, and running into the holiday stretch, blending brand heft, new voices, and data-minded offsets. Studios with streamers are leaning into cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that convert these pictures into cross-demo moments.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has established itself as the surest move in annual schedules, a space that can accelerate when it connects and still hedge the risk when it does not. After 2023 showed strategy teams that efficiently budgeted chillers can command the national conversation, 2024 maintained heat with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The energy translated to the 2025 frame, where revivals and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is a market for different modes, from sequel tracks to director-led originals that play globally. The sum for 2026 is a schedule that shows rare alignment across the field, with defined corridors, a balance of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a sharpened eye on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now functions as a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can open on open real estate, supply a simple premise for marketing and reels, and lead with viewers that respond on opening previews and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the movie hits. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout exhibits confidence in that model. The calendar opens with a front-loaded January band, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a fall cadence that connects to the Halloween frame and into early November. The grid also includes the deeper integration of arthouse labels and SVOD players that can platform and widen, spark evangelism, and widen at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is series management across ongoing universes and long-running brands. Studio teams are not just rolling another installment. They are setting up brand continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a reframed mood or a casting choice that threads a new entry to a early run. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the high-profile originals are leaning into material texture, special makeup and distinct locales. That mix offers the 2026 slate a vital pairing of brand comfort and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount marks the early tempo with two front-of-slate moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the focus, presenting it as both a relay and a back-to-basics character piece. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture suggests a fan-service aware treatment without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick redirects to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three specific entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is clean, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that evolves into a killer companion. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise creepy live activations and bite-size content that interweaves longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots 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 posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele projects are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-month date offers Universal room to take 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has made clear that a gnarly, practical-effects forward treatment can feel big on a efficient spend. Frame it as a splatter summer horror shot that maximizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio sets two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot 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 longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around setting detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can fuel premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by obsessive craft and period speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

Platform lanes and windowing

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s releases feed copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ladder that maximizes both debut momentum and sign-up momentum in the post-theatrical. Prime Video combines acquired titles with global pickups and short theatrical plays when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, holiday hubs, and collection rows to prolong the run on lifetime take. Netflix plays opportunist about original films and festival snaps, finalizing horror entries closer to launch and turning into events drops with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a tiered of selective theatrical runs and fast windowing that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a selective basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with established auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for retention when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clean: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the autumn weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, managing the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for auteur horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Anticipate 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 a pair, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their user base.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 skews toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit household recognition. The risk, as ever, is fatigue. The workable fix is to position each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is leading with character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-tinted vision from a ascendant talent. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the team and cast is known enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent comps contextualize the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not foreclose a hybrid test from working when the brand was sticky. In 2024, director-craft horror surged in premium screens. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and raise the stakes. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without extended gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The filmmaking conversations behind the upcoming entries signal a continued shift toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that foregrounds unease and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft profiles and department features before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta refresh that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which are ideal for booth activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel definitive. Look for trailers that center fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

Annual flow

January is stacked. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid big-brand pushes. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the tone spread carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Winter into spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a transitional slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a peekaboo tease plan and limited asset reveals that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft click to read more coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s virtual companion shifts into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss battle to survive on a cut-off island as the control dynamic swivels and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to nightmare, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting piece that interrogates the horror of a child’s mercurial impressions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-scale and celebrity-led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that riffs on in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fascinations. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 erupts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further widens again, with a another family linked to long-buried horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for classic survival-horror tone over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: undetermined. Production: underway. 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 historical diction and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or rearranged in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous 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 launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can capture a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will stack across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where lower and mid-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 stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 somber, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, audio design, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Ready To Roar

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.