Age-old Terror Stirs in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 across global platforms

One unnerving ghostly shockfest from writer / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an mythic nightmare when strangers become vehicles in a malevolent trial. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish saga of overcoming and prehistoric entity that will remodel scare flicks this fall. Created by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and shadowy suspense flick follows five individuals who are stirred caught in a far-off dwelling under the dark sway of Kyra, a mysterious girl consumed by a two-thousand-year-old biblical force. Be prepared to be gripped by a immersive spectacle that merges soul-chilling terror with timeless legends, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a iconic tradition in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reversed when the forces no longer develop beyond the self, but rather through their own souls. This marks the darkest corner of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat psychological battle where the drama becomes a relentless struggle between right and wrong.


In a isolated terrain, five friends find themselves trapped under the possessive rule and domination of a mysterious female presence. As the companions becomes submissive to fight her control, stranded and chased by spirits unfathomable, they are forced to deal with their inner horrors while the time without pause ticks onward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion rises and links collapse, coercing each protagonist to scrutinize their true nature and the philosophy of free will itself. The threat intensify with every breath, delivering a nightmarish journey that integrates unearthly horror with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to draw upon raw dread, an entity beyond recorded history, channeling itself through fragile psyche, and highlighting a will that dismantles free will when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra needed manifesting something far beyond human desperation. She is unseeing until the haunting manifests, and that transformation is deeply unsettling because it is so emotional.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure households everywhere can dive into this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its first preview, which has been viewed over 100K plays.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Tune in for this life-altering journey into fear. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to experience these fearful discoveries about the soul.


For teasers, filmmaker commentary, and promotions from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit the movie portal.





Horror’s inflection point: the 2025 season American release plan Mixes biblical-possession ideas, signature indie scares, plus series shake-ups

Moving from grit-forward survival fare suffused with near-Eastern lore and stretching into brand-name continuations in concert with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is lining up as the most complex in tandem with deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. leading studios bookend the months with familiar IP, in parallel streaming platforms pack the fall with unboxed visions set against scriptural shivers. At the same time, the art-house flank is riding the kinetic energy of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, and 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s schedule leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. landing in mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Steered by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

By late summer, Warner’s slate releases the last chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson is back, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: 70s style chill, trauma explicitly handled, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The bar is raised this go, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The return delves further into myth, thickens the animatronic pantheon, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It opens in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

SVOD Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled 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. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No overinflated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

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.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Series Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, 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.

What to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror reemerges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The approaching chiller year to come: returning titles, fresh concepts, paired with A busy Calendar designed for screams

Dek The upcoming scare calendar loads at the outset with a January logjam, after that runs through midyear, and continuing into the holiday stretch, mixing name recognition, novel approaches, and tactical alternatives. The major players are betting on responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and platform-native promos that elevate the slate’s entries into national conversation.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror filmmaking has grown into the consistent tool in studio lineups, a category that can surge when it breaks through and still insulate the drag when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for greenlighters that low-to-mid budget chillers can own the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with director-led heat and surprise hits. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where reboots and elevated films made clear there is a market for diverse approaches, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that carry overseas. The upshot for 2026 is a lineup that seems notably aligned across the field, with clear date clusters, a harmony of household franchises and fresh ideas, and a refocused commitment on exhibition windows that feed downstream value on premium digital and platforms.

Studio leaders note the category now acts as a schedule utility on the schedule. The genre can open on a wide range of weekends, provide a quick sell for teasers and vertical videos, and outstrip with ticket buyers that show up on Thursday previews and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the entry works. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 mapping exhibits conviction in that engine. The slate kicks off with a heavy January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a fall run that reaches into late October and afterwards. The program also illustrates the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and streamers that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and move wide at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across brand ecosystems and legacy franchises. The studios are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are trying to present story carry-over with a specialness, whether that is a logo package that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a cast configuration that binds a next entry to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the auteurs behind the eagerly awaited originals are championing tactile craft, special makeup and grounded locations. That pairing affords the 2026 slate a solid mix of known notes and surprise, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece moves that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the core, presenting it as both a lineage transfer and a return-to-roots character-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture hints at a fan-service aware mode without looping the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Plan for a rollout rooted in recognizable motifs, character previews, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will lean on. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick updates to whatever leads pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique lanes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is tidy, tragic, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an machine companion that evolves into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a crowded corridor, with the Universal machine likely to mirror strange in-person beats and snackable content that interweaves intimacy and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s pictures are branded as auteur events, with a teaser that reveals little and a subsequent trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The Halloween runway allows Universal to take 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has shown that a gritty, physical-effects centered method can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror hit that embraces offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio mounts two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a consistent supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is billing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both fans and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build artifacts around canon, and creature effects, elements that can amplify IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

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 Eggers’ run of period horror defined by careful craft and textual fidelity, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus Features has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is glowing.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on proven patterns. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a ladder that expands both debut momentum and sign-up spikes in the after-window. Prime Video stitches together outside acquisitions with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data points to it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in archive usage, using prominent placements, horror hubs, and featured rows to lengthen the tail on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about original films and festival snaps, confirming horror entries closer to drop and elevating as drops releases with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a laddered of precision releases and quick platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to buy select projects with prestige directors or star-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for retention when the genre conversation ramps.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 runway with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clean: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday dates to broaden. That positioning has shown results for auteur horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using select theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By volume, 2026 is weighted toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use name recognition. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to position each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is foregrounding relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the assembly is comforting enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps announce the template. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept clean windows did not block a same-day experiment from paying off when the brand was strong. In 2024, precision craft horror hit big in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they rotate perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, permits marketing to connect the chapters through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without extended gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind the year’s horror foreshadow a continued tilt toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers tone and tension rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a mood teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel necessary. Look for trailers that underscore surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that play in premium auditoriums.

The schedule at a glance

January is crowded. 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 atmospheric change-up amid big-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tone spread opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Winter into spring load in summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer have a peek at these guys while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can hit 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.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a early fall window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a slow-reveal plan and limited teasers that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can win the holiday when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card redemption.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s synthetic partner becomes something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 run into a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power inverts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that channels the fear through a child’s flickering subjective lens. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-financed and celebrity-led paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that skewers contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. 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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: pending. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and elemental fear. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three operational forces drive this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or migrated in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 placements. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on social-ready stingers from test screenings, select scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Calendar math also matters. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can command a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will line up across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where midrange-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two 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 bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Promising 2026

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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, cut crisp trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.