Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a bone chilling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across major platforms

An bone-chilling ghostly fright fest from storyteller / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an forgotten fear when foreigners become tools in a diabolical ritual. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful chronicle of staying alive and primeval wickedness that will reimagine scare flicks this fall. Helmed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and tone-heavy story follows five young adults who emerge sealed in a wilderness-bound dwelling under the malignant grip of Kyra, a mysterious girl inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old ancient fiend. Be prepared to be hooked by a narrative adventure that integrates bodily fright with timeless legends, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a historical theme in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the fiends no longer appear from a different plane, but rather from within. This symbolizes the most sinister corner of these individuals. The result is a emotionally raw inner struggle where the intensity becomes a merciless confrontation between right and wrong.


In a barren forest, five individuals find themselves marooned under the fiendish presence and inhabitation of a unidentified character. As the protagonists becomes incapable to oppose her command, isolated and followed by presences unimaginable, they are pushed to confront their greatest panics while the timeline brutally edges forward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion amplifies and connections erode, pressuring each protagonist to scrutinize their character and the structure of self-determination itself. The consequences climb with every fleeting time, delivering a paranormal ride that blends paranormal dread with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to draw upon deep fear, an curse beyond recorded history, operating within emotional fractures, and challenging a darkness that challenges autonomy when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is clueless until the takeover begins, and that shift is haunting because it is so raw.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing subscribers anywhere can engage with this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first preview, which has racked up over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, giving access to the movie to a global viewership.


Experience this bone-rattling journey into fear. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to dive into these spiritual awakenings about existence.


For bonus footage, special features, and reveals from inside the story, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your socials and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror sea change: the year 2025 American release plan braids together archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, in parallel with Franchise Rumbles

Beginning with pressure-cooker survival tales drawn from ancient scripture and stretching into franchise returns paired with focused festival visions, 2025 is emerging as the richest together with strategic year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios bookend the months through proven series, in parallel platform operators front-load the fall with new perspectives alongside mythic dread. On the independent axis, the independent cohort is drafting behind the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, thus 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures begins the calendar with a risk-forward move: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Led by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. targeting 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 novel refit as minimal menace. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures drops the final chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: 70s style chill, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The next entry deepens the tale, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It hits in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a close quarters body horror study anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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 horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No series drag. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

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, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror swings back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The 2026 scare release year: installments, Originals, and also A packed Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek: The fresh terror season clusters up front with a January traffic jam, subsequently spreads through June and July, and straight through the winter holidays, weaving IP strength, new concepts, and data-minded counter-scheduling. The major players are doubling down on lean spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and viral-minded pushes that pivot horror entries into four-quadrant talking points.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This category has established itself as the most reliable tool in studio calendars, a space that can spike when it catches and still safeguard the floor when it misses. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that cost-conscious entries can command social chatter, the following year held pace with filmmaker-forward plays and quiet over-performers. The carry moved into the 2025 frame, where returns and critical darlings confirmed there is a market for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to director-led originals that carry overseas. The sum for the 2026 slate is a grid that reads highly synchronized across studios, with defined corridors, a balance of known properties and first-time concepts, and a renewed attention on release windows that feed downstream value on premium home window and home platforms.

Schedulers say the genre now operates like a swing piece on the grid. The genre can kick off on many corridors, furnish a easy sell for marketing and platform-native cuts, and outstrip with fans that appear on Thursday nights and maintain momentum through the second weekend if the film delivers. Post a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm reflects trust in that engine. The slate kicks off with a thick January band, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterweight, while making space for a fall corridor that connects to the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The grid also shows the expanded integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can build gradually, build word of mouth, and widen at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is IP stewardship across interlocking continuities and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are aiming to frame lineage with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that anchors a new installment to a first wave. At the in tandem, the directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating real-world builds, real effects and grounded locations. That combination delivers 2026 a confident blend of familiarity and freshness, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount sets the tone early with two headline bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a classic-mode character-focused installment. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a memory-charged bent without repeating the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Plan for a rollout stacked with signature symbols, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will seek four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick shifts to whatever defines trend lines that spring.

Universal has three unique pushes. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is clean, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man brings home an intelligent companion that mutates into a killer companion. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and micro spots that melds romance and anxiety.

On May my company 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an headline beat closer to the teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s work are presented as auteur events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later trailer push that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links 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, prosthetic-heavy method can feel elevated on a efficient spend. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror jolt that maximizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio places two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, keeping a bankable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both core fans and curious audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build materials around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can increase premium screens and community activity.

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 sustains Eggers’ run of period horror defined by immersive craft and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The specialty arm has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is robust.

Platform lanes and windowing

Windowing plans in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a sequence that boosts both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the later phase. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library pulls, using in-app campaigns, holiday hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a laddered of limited theatrical footprints and fast windowing that translates talk to trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has been willing to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for retention when the genre conversation peaks.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 sequence with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the December frame to widen. That positioning has paid off for craft-driven horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception warrants. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited runs to seed evangelism that fuels their audience.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is overexposure. The workable fix is to market each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the package is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns contextualize the logic. In 2023, a theater-first model that maintained windows did not foreclose a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, director-craft horror hit big in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 in tandem, lets marketing to relate entries through character web and themes and to hold creative in the market without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The shop talk behind this slate telegraph a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that highlights grain and menace rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which play well in con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that spotlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that shine in top rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. 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 meaningful, but the range of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Early-year through spring seed summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August and September into October leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited advance reveals that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads 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 widowed man’s algorithmic partner mutates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss claw to survive on a remote island as the power balance inverts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s physical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting narrative that plays with the horror of a child’s uncertain POV. Rating: TBA. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A send-up revival that pokes at modern genre fads and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: production booked 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 breaks out, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family bound to past horrors. Rating: pending. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: to be announced. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 era-faithful speech and elemental menace. Rating: TBD. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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

Why 2026 makes sense

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate clippable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where lean-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 use those gaps. 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, lean 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, 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 Looks Exciting

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.