Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a nerve shredding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An hair-raising paranormal nightmare movie from author / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an age-old entity when unfamiliar people become subjects in a cursed trial. Dropping October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing narrative of resistance and primeval wickedness that will redefine the horror genre this harvest season. Helmed by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and moody tale follows five teens who awaken caught in a secluded lodge under the oppressive manipulation of Kyra, a tormented girl claimed by a ancient holy text monster. Steel yourself to be captivated by a audio-visual spectacle that intertwines instinctive fear with spiritual backstory, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a recurring foundation in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is reversed when the demons no longer descend beyond the self, but rather from within. This echoes the darkest side of the group. The result is a edge-of-seat psychological battle where the narrative becomes a intense push-pull between virtue and vice.


In a wilderness-stricken wilderness, five campers find themselves isolated under the evil dominion and curse of a enigmatic female figure. As the characters becomes incapacitated to evade her influence, abandoned and targeted by forces unimaginable, they are required to encounter their deepest fears while the time unceasingly winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion grows and partnerships fracture, compelling each survivor to scrutinize their personhood and the principle of volition itself. The intensity rise with every breath, delivering a fear-soaked story that merges otherworldly suspense with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to tap into primitive panic, an evil that predates humanity, embedding itself in soul-level flaws, and exposing a darkness that tests the soul when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is oblivious until the haunting manifests, and that pivot is gut-wrenching because it is so visceral.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be released for streaming beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving streamers around the globe can experience this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original clip, which has attracted over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, exporting the fear to a global viewership.


Tune in for this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these terrifying truths about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, extra content, and insider scoops via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit the official website.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts Mixes legend-infused possession, art-house nightmares, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Ranging from survival horror steeped in ancient scripture as well as IP renewals together with focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted together with precision-timed year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. major banners lay down anchors with established lines, in parallel subscription platforms saturate the fall with discovery plays alongside ancient terrors. On the festival side, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is carried on the carry from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Since Halloween is the prized date, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s distribution arm fires the first shot with a marquee bet: a refreshed Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, inside today’s landscape. From director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. timed for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. Pictures releases the last chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: period tinged dread, trauma as narrative engine, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, speaking to teens and older millennials. It hits in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: No Budget, No Problem

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. 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.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No swollen lore. No IP hangover. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup 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.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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

Trend Lines

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

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

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The next chiller season: follow-ups, Originals, together with A hectic Calendar geared toward frights

Dek The new terror slate loads up front with a January logjam, from there rolls through midyear, and deep into the late-year period, combining marquee clout, inventive spins, and savvy counter-scheduling. The major players are doubling down on efficient budgets, theater-first strategies, and shareable marketing that shape genre titles into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror filmmaking has solidified as the steady swing in studio lineups, a lane that can surge when it connects and still buffer the exposure when it falls short. After 2023 reminded buyers that modestly budgeted pictures can drive pop culture, 2024 held pace with auteur-driven buzzy films and stealth successes. The energy rolled into 2025, where re-entries and premium-leaning entries made clear there is a lane for different modes, from brand follow-ups to director-led originals that translate worldwide. The result for the 2026 slate is a slate that is strikingly coherent across studios, with planned clusters, a balance of legacy names and first-time concepts, and a recommitted strategy on theater exclusivity that increase tail monetization on premium digital and OTT platforms.

Distribution heads claim the space now operates like a flex slot on the grid. Horror can arrive on most weekends, offer a grabby hook for previews and short-form placements, and outperform with viewers that come out on previews Thursday and sustain through the second weekend if the entry lands. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan reflects comfort in that playbook. The calendar gets underway with a thick January band, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while keeping space for a September to October window that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The layout also shows the increasing integration of specialized labels and subscription services that can launch in limited release, create conversation, and scale up at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across shared IP webs and legacy IP. Studios are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are trying to present connection with a specialness, whether that is a typeface approach that indicates a reframed mood or a lead change that bridges a new entry to a vintage era. At the meanwhile, the creative teams behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring practical craft, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That pairing affords the 2026 slate a lively combination of recognition and novelty, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount leads early with two big-ticket plays that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a baton pass and a foundation-forward character-first story. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the authorial approach hints at a fan-service aware strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave rooted in iconic art, character-first teases, and a trailer cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also relaunches 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 as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will pursue four-quadrant chatter through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever defines the social talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete releases. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is efficient, tragic, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an intelligent companion that escalates into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to renew eerie street stunts and snackable content that melds attachment and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a official title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. The filmmaker’s films are marketed as signature events, with a teaser that holds back and a subsequent trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-October frame affords Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has made clear that a gnarly, in-camera leaning mix can feel deluxe on a moderate cost. Position this as a splatter summer horror charge that centers international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, keeping a evergreen supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is selling as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both loyalists and casuals. The fall slot affords Sony time to build marketing units around canon, and creature effects, elements that can stoke PLF interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in textural authenticity and archaic language, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus’s team has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is robust.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s genre entries window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a cadence that amplifies both premiere heat and subscriber lifts in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances library titles with cross-border buys and limited runs in theaters when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library curation, using well-timed internal promotions, holiday hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix films and festival acquisitions, locking in horror entries toward the drop and making event-like rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that translates talk to trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to pick up select projects with name filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 corridor with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clean: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, retooled 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 cinema-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the fall weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday dates to move out. That positioning has served the company well for filmmaker-first horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By number, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The challenge, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is emphasizing character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-flavored turn from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-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 crash-survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the team and cast is steady enough to build pre-sales and early previews.

Comparable trends from recent years clarify the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and elevate scope. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, lets marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The filmmaking conversations behind the upcoming entries suggest a continued tilt toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that foregrounds mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in deep-dive features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that leans on mood over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta-horror reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work horror and world-building, which are ideal for fan-con activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid larger brand plays. The month caps 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 legit, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

February through May prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens 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 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited advance reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads 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 loss-struck man’s AI companion unfolds into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie 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 run into a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 tough boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the control dynamic tilts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s practical craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that frames the panic through a minor’s unreliable POV. Rating: TBA. Production: in the can. 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 re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that pokes at today’s horror trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: cameras due to roll 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 spreads, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new family snared by returning horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: pending. Production: advancing. 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 period-specific language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 and why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will compete across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. 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.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 cost-efficient 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. 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 pace and range. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sonics, and framing 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.