Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primordial evil, a nerve shredding feature, launching October 2025 across top digital platforms

One bone-chilling otherworldly thriller from screenwriter / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primordial terror when drifters become instruments in a fiendish game. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense portrayal of staying alive and archaic horror that will reimagine terror storytelling this autumn. Helmed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and claustrophobic story follows five unknowns who awaken ensnared in a secluded dwelling under the ominous sway of Kyra, a central character overtaken by a time-worn scriptural evil. Brace yourself to be immersed by a cinematic journey that integrates bodily fright with mystical narratives, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a historical narrative in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is reimagined when the monsters no longer come beyond the self, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the grimmest facet of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat moral showdown where the conflict becomes a ongoing contest between purity and corruption.


In a isolated natural abyss, five characters find themselves trapped under the malevolent aura and inhabitation of a unknown spirit. As the team becomes defenseless to evade her will, isolated and tracked by terrors indescribable, they are cornered to deal with their core terrors while the clock coldly ticks toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia mounts and partnerships collapse, requiring each character to evaluate their self and the principle of independent thought itself. The threat mount with every beat, delivering a fear-soaked story that connects spiritual fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to uncover primal fear, an threat beyond recorded history, manifesting in our fears, and confronting a entity that questions who we are when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra was about accessing something outside normal anguish. She is unaware until the takeover begins, and that flip is shocking because it is so personal.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for audiences beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that fans around the globe can witness this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its release of trailer #1, which has racked up over 100K plays.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, taking the terror to lovers of terror across nations.


Do not miss this unforgettable descent into hell. Watch *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these unholy truths about existence.


For director insights, production insights, and updates from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s sea change: 2025 in focus U.S. release slate braids together primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, alongside IP aftershocks

Kicking off with pressure-cooker survival tales grounded in ancient scripture as well as returning series set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the most stratified plus tactically planned year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. leading studios lay down anchors via recognizable brands, at the same time streaming platforms front-load the fall with new voices and legend-coded dread. On the independent axis, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, but this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are precise, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium dread reemerges

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm starts the year with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, the WB camp sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: 70s style chill, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror chamber piece led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a smart play. No heavy handed lore. No series drag. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
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 exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Fall stack and winter swing card

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The new fright cycle: returning titles, new stories, alongside A loaded Calendar tailored for chills

Dek: The incoming genre cycle loads early with a January cluster, subsequently extends through the mid-year, and pushing into the December corridor, blending IP strength, new voices, and savvy offsets. Major distributors and platforms are relying on responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-fueled campaigns that turn horror entries into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has become the predictable release in studio lineups, a corner that can break out when it clicks and still protect the drag when it misses. After the 2023 year showed executives that mid-range horror vehicles can own social chatter, the following year maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and surprise hits. The run flowed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and critical darlings highlighted there is space for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to standalone ideas that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a slate that is strikingly coherent across distributors, with clear date clusters, a pairing of established brands and novel angles, and a sharpened stance on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium rental and subscription services.

Insiders argue the space now behaves like a flex slot on the release plan. The genre can kick off on virtually any date, create a quick sell for creative and social clips, and outpace with moviegoers that show up on opening previews and keep coming through the next weekend if the feature works. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence exhibits conviction in that dynamic. The year gets underway with a heavy January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that carries into All Hallows period and past the holiday. The schedule also underscores the greater integration of indie arms and streaming partners that can develop over weeks, create conversation, and scale up at the proper time.

A reinforcing pattern is IP stewardship across linked properties and storied titles. Studios are not just pushing another follow-up. They are shaping as lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that announces a new vibe or a casting choice that anchors a new entry to a classic era. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the marquee originals are embracing physical effects work, special makeup and grounded locations. That interplay produces the 2026 slate a confident blend of trust and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount defines the early cadence with two headline titles that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a passing of the torch and a foundation-forward relationship-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach suggests a legacy-leaning campaign without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push anchored in legacy iconography, character previews, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will pursue general-audience talk through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever dominates the conversation that spring.

Universal has three discrete pushes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, loss-driven, and logline-clear: a grieving man sets up an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a lethal partner. The date locates it at the front of a busy month, with the marketing arm likely to bring back creepy live activations and quick hits that melds devotion and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as 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 leaves room for a final title to become an fan moment closer to the debut look. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele projects are framed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween runway gives the studio room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a raw, makeup-driven style can feel premium on a tight budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror blast that embraces overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is describing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both loyalists and first-timers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can accelerate premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books 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 grounded in textural authenticity and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The distributor has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate move to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a tiered path that fortifies both week-one demand and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video blends licensed films with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library engagement, using curated hubs, fright rows, and collection rows to stretch the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps flexible about in-house releases and festival acquisitions, locking in horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and quick platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a selective basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with recognized filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 slate with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, updated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a cinema-first plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using select theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchises versus originals

By count, the 2026 slate favors the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The workable fix is to present each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is centering character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a continental coloration from a emerging director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the team and cast is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Past-three-year patterns outline the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that held distribution windows did not obstruct a dual release from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reorient and elevate scope. 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 double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, provides the means for marketing to link the films through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without dead zones.

Craft and creative trends

The production chatter behind this slate point to a continued bias toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that elevates aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta-horror reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is stacked. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid heftier brand moves. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the tone spread ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring stage summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited disclosures that trade in concept over detail.

Prestige-horror at year-end. navigate here Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and card redemption.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s machine mate escalates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance turns and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s on-set craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. 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 scenario that plays with the terror of a child’s tricky interpretations. Rating: TBA. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A spoof revival that pokes at current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: undetermined. Production: cameras due to roll 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 spreads, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a young family entangled with long-buried horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 primordial menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three nuts-and-bolts forces structure this lineup. First, production that decelerated or recalendared in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work meme-ready beats from test screenings, curated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can command a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers 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 quiet breakout 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, 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 banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient placements, 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 surface detail, acoustics, and cinematography 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.