Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases antediluvian malevolence, a spine tingling thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This bone-chilling spiritual fright fest from cinematographer / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an ancient evil when guests become subjects in a malevolent experiment. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful portrayal of survival and ancient evil that will reshape fear-driven cinema this season. Visualized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and moody film follows five people who come to imprisoned in a unreachable hideaway under the malignant command of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old biblical force. Steel yourself to be immersed by a motion picture experience that combines instinctive fear with mythic lore, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic pillar in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is radically shifted when the malevolences no longer descend outside the characters, but rather from within. This marks the most hidden corner of the cast. The result is a emotionally raw moral showdown where the story becomes a merciless clash between heaven and hell.


In a remote landscape, five young people find themselves stuck under the ghastly influence and inhabitation of a enigmatic apparition. As the cast becomes submissive to fight her dominion, disconnected and preyed upon by evils inconceivable, they are pushed to acknowledge their core terrors while the hours brutally draws closer toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and alliances erode, compelling each person to rethink their core and the idea of self-determination itself. The stakes escalate with every passing moment, delivering a paranormal ride that weaves together mystical fear with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dive into elemental fright, an threat beyond recorded history, feeding on psychological breaks, and testing a force that peels away humanity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra meant channeling something deeper than fear. She is unaware until the takeover begins, and that flip is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving audiences across the world can enjoy this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first trailer, which has garnered over notable views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to horror fans worldwide.


Don’t miss this unforgettable descent into darkness. Confront *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to see these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For exclusive trailers, set experiences, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across online outlets and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s watershed moment: calendar year 2025 American release plan melds legend-infused possession, signature indie scares, stacked beside brand-name tremors

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare rooted in biblical myth and including series comebacks in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 looks like the most textured as well as tactically planned year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. Major studios bookend the months using marquee IP, at the same time streaming platforms pack the fall with emerging auteurs in concert with ancestral chills. Meanwhile, the independent cohort is catching the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, notably this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures leads off the quarter with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Booked into mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot unveils the final movement of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma explicitly handled, with ghostly inner logic. 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 sophomore entry expands the mythology, thickens the animatronic pantheon, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It bows in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. 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 tight space body horror vignette starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga with Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: 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, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Shaped and helmed 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. 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 remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy IP: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror reemerges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: 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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide 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 upcoming Horror cycle: continuations, universe starters, together with A Crowded Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The emerging terror season lines up at the outset with a January traffic jam, following that rolls through the warm months, and deep into the winter holidays, marrying marquee clout, fresh ideas, and strategic release strategy. Studios and platforms are betting on responsible budgets, theatrical leads, and shareable marketing that elevate the slate’s entries into culture-wide discussion.

How the genre looks for 2026

This category has grown into the surest move in annual schedules, a genre that can grow when it performs and still cushion the exposure when it misses. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for greenlighters that mid-range genre plays can own pop culture, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam carried into 2025, where revivals and premium-leaning entries showed there is demand for diverse approaches, from series extensions to original features that export nicely. The takeaway for 2026 is a programming that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with defined corridors, a harmony of household franchises and new concepts, and a re-energized stance on big-screen windows that fuel later windows on premium digital rental and OTT platforms.

Distribution heads claim the category now works like a versatile piece on the programming map. The genre can debut on most weekends, deliver a clear pitch for previews and TikTok spots, and lead with ticket buyers that come out on advance nights and hold through the week two if the offering works. Exiting a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence demonstrates confidence in that model. The calendar commences with a crowded January stretch, then targets spring into early summer for counterweight, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The arrangement also features the increasing integration of specialty distributors and platforms that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and roll out at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is franchise tending across ongoing universes and storied titles. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are trying to present continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that links a latest entry to a first wave. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the high-profile originals are favoring on-set craft, physical gags and concrete locations. That blend yields the 2026 slate a robust balance of assurance and shock, which is how the films export.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent moves that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the spine, marketing it as both a baton pass and a DNA-forward character-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach signals a classic-referencing campaign without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Look for a marketing run anchored in franchise iconography, initial cast looks, and a staggered trailer plan hitting 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 reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will hunt mainstream recognition through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is straightforward, heartbroken, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man brings home an synthetic partner that grows into a lethal partner. The date lines it up at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit off-kilter promo beats and short-cut promos that interweaves love and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an earned moment closer to the initial tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are marketed as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has established that a flesh-and-blood, practical-effects forward style can feel prestige on a tight budget. Look for a gore-forward summer horror jolt that spotlights overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is calling 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 mission to serve both core fans and newcomers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can increase premium format interest and community activity.

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 builds on Eggers’ run of period horror centered on obsessive craft and historical speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. The specialty arm has already set 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.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s horror titles window into copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ordering that expands both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with global pickups and targeted theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using featured rows, seasonal hubs, and featured rows to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix retains agility about first-party entries and festival snaps, slotting horror entries near launch and turning into events arrivals with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that translates talk to trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a per-project basis. The platform has signaled readiness to purchase select projects with acclaimed directors or star packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation builds.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 lane with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is tight: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, retooled for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through select festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas corridor to open out. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-driven genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using select theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their audience.

Brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit brand equity. The caveat, as ever, is brand erosion. The near-term solution is to frame each entry as a new angle. Paramount is bringing forward character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-inflected take from a rising filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the bundle is known enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Three-year comps announce the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that held distribution windows did not foreclose a day-date try from working when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reframe POV and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds 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 consecutively, builds a path for marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to leave creative active without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries telegraph a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that foregrounds atmosphere and fear rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that elevates tone over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta recalibration that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to con floor moments and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that emphasize fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heavier IP. The month finishes 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 thick, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late Q1 and spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining Source horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a minimalist tease strategy and limited teasers that stress concept over spoilers.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s intelligent companion escalates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 remote island as the pecking order reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, shaped by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that frames the panic through a youth’s volatile point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-grade and name-above-title occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A parody reboot that lampoons of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime manias. Rating: pending. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 detonates, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further extends again, with a fresh family caught in long-buried horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 primal menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 lands now

Three operational forces frame this lineup. First, production that paused or shifted in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and accelerated 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. 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 send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can pounce 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 sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The underdog chase continues in Q1, where 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 chilly, 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 escalate across the year, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, audio design, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand gravity where needed, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, lock the reveals, and let the screams sell the seats.