Age-old Horror Emerges within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on major platforms

A chilling mystic suspense story from literary architect / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an prehistoric fear when drifters become tokens in a dark game. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching account of overcoming and old world terror that will revamp horror this Halloween season. Visualized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and cinematic fearfest follows five lost souls who wake up confined in a secluded shack under the sinister influence of Kyra, a tormented girl inhabited by a millennia-old biblical demon. Anticipate to be captivated by a big screen journey that merges intense horror with arcane tradition, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a time-honored concept in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is subverted when the demons no longer form externally, but rather through their own souls. This represents the most primal layer of every character. The result is a relentless internal warfare where the conflict becomes a brutal battle between divinity and wickedness.


In a remote backcountry, five adults find themselves imprisoned under the unholy aura and domination of a haunted figure. As the team becomes paralyzed to withstand her influence, disconnected and chased by beings inconceivable, they are pushed to face their inner horrors while the time brutally runs out toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension deepens and friendships implode, compelling each cast member to examine their character and the concept of self-determination itself. The danger mount with every heartbeat, delivering a horror experience that intertwines otherworldly suspense with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dig into core terror, an malevolence from ancient eras, manipulating our weaknesses, and challenging a entity that forces self-examination when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra called for internalizing something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is haunting because it is so emotional.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audience access beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing fans around the globe can dive into this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first trailer, which has gathered over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Don’t miss this mind-warping voyage through terror. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to acknowledge these fearful discoveries about inner darkness.


For teasers, on-set glimpses, and updates from the cast and crew, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit our film’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar melds primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, together with brand-name tremors

Beginning with survival horror rooted in legendary theology and extending to installment follow-ups as well as cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is coalescing into the most textured along with blueprinted year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Top studios are anchoring the year via recognizable brands, as streaming platforms saturate the fall with fresh voices set against old-world menace. In parallel, horror’s indie wing is riding the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Since Halloween is the prized date, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, and 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner fires the first shot with a risk-forward move: a reconceived Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in an immediate now. From director Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. timed for 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.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer eases, Warner’s pipeline drops the final chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: 70s style chill, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The bar is raised this go, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It posts in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Offerings: Slim budgets, major punch

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative with Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is canny scheduling. No overstuffed canon. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

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. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Dials to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

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

Platform originals gain bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and 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 remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The oncoming spook lineup: returning titles, original films, in tandem with A hectic Calendar geared toward jolts

Dek The incoming horror slate clusters right away with a January logjam, following that carries through midyear, and carrying into the December corridor, marrying series momentum, novel approaches, and savvy release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are leaning into smart costs, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that turn genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has turned into the dependable play in annual schedules, a vertical that can surge when it resonates and still limit the drawdown when it does not. After the 2023 year reassured strategy teams that disciplined-budget entries can command mainstream conversation, the following year extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The upswing moved into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and prestige plays proved there is capacity for many shades, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The end result for 2026 is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the field, with obvious clusters, a blend of familiar brands and novel angles, and a revived focus on release windows that fuel later windows on premium digital and digital services.

Planners observe the category now functions as a fill-in ace on the slate. The genre can launch on virtually any date, offer a sharp concept for previews and short-form placements, and exceed norms with demo groups that lean in on preview nights and keep coming through the second frame if the movie delivers. On the heels of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern underscores trust in that engine. The year rolls out with a crowded January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a autumn stretch that stretches into All Hallows period and into early November. The layout also includes the stronger partnership of boutique distributors and streamers that can build gradually, build word of mouth, and broaden at the inflection point.

Another broad trend is IP cultivation across brand ecosystems and heritage properties. Major shops are not just pushing another next film. They are trying to present lineage with a specialness, whether that is a art treatment that conveys a reframed mood or a star attachment that binds a new entry to a classic era. At the same time, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are celebrating real-world builds, practical gags and grounded locations. That pairing gives 2026 a strong blend of comfort and unexpected turns, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount establishes early momentum with two headline moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a legacy handover and a rootsy character-forward chapter. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the tonal posture conveys a roots-evoking campaign without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Plan for a rollout driven by signature symbols, character previews, and a promo sequence timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will lean on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after mass reach through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick turns to whatever shapes the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is efficient, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that escalates into a perilous partner. The date puts it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to iterate on eerie street stunts and micro spots that threads romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working 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 branding reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His entries are marketed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second trailer wave that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The prime October weekend opens a lane to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has established that a raw, physical-effects centered method can feel big on a controlled budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror surge that leans hard into overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, sustaining a evergreen supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is positioning as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around narrative world, and creature design, elements that can boost premium booking interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in immersive craft and dialect, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is warm.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform tactics for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s genre slate shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that amplifies both first-week urgency and sub growth in the post-theatrical. Prime Video blends outside acquisitions with global acquisitions and limited cinema engagements when the data backs it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library pulls, using seasonal hubs, genre hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on aggregate take. Netflix retains agility about original films and festival grabs, dating horror entries tight to release and turning into events go-lives with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a laddered of targeted theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to acquire select projects with established auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, modernized for modern audio-visual craft. 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 suggested a theatrical-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using precision theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness cultural cachet. The potential drawback, as ever, is overexposure. The workable fix is to package each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a European tilt from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the configuration is grounded enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns illuminate the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that held distribution windows did not stop a day-and-date experiment from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a return news of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot in tandem, builds a path for marketing to connect the chapters through personae and themes and to continue assets in field without pause points.

Behind-the-camera trends

The director conversations behind this slate indicate a continued lean toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights aura and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and spurs shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which align with convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that spotlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that sing on PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is stacked. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid bigger brand plays. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the menu of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. 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 cycled through premium screens.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a slow-reveal plan and limited information drops that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

One-sentence dossiers

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 challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first this content with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s AI companion grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her prickly boss battle to survive on a cut-off island as the power balance of power inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official this content materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to horror, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. 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 intimate haunting premise that frames the panic through a little one’s uncertain POV. Rating: TBA. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-scale and star-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan bound to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-driven horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the moment is 2026

Three workable forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or migrated in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work clippable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

There is also the slotting calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will jostle across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 sleeper 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundcraft, and picture 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 Is Well Positioned

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is IP strength where it matters, original vision 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.