Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites antediluvian malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, bowing October 2025 across top digital platforms

This bone-chilling occult suspense film from cinematographer / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an primordial curse when unfamiliar people become vehicles in a devilish struggle. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving narrative of struggle and forgotten curse that will resculpt horror this spooky time. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and moody feature follows five people who come to sealed in a secluded cottage under the oppressive command of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Be warned to be drawn in by a theatrical journey that fuses deep-seated panic with ancestral stories, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a classic foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the malevolences no longer come externally, but rather deep within. This embodies the most hidden corner of all involved. The result is a intense mental war where the plotline becomes a unyielding battle between right and wrong.


In a isolated terrain, five figures find themselves imprisoned under the sinister sway and infestation of a mysterious apparition. As the group becomes powerless to combat her rule, marooned and hunted by beings unimaginable, they are compelled to stand before their soulful dreads while the doomsday meter unceasingly edges forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension builds and links implode, compelling each individual to rethink their true nature and the philosophy of volition itself. The danger accelerate with every beat, delivering a horror experience that integrates unearthly horror with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to channel core terror, an threat born of forgotten ages, manifesting in our weaknesses, and dealing with a spirit that erodes the self when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra needed manifesting something darker than pain. She is insensitive until the demon emerges, and that transition is soul-crushing because it is so emotional.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing customers anywhere can engage with this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first trailer, which has pulled in over 100,000 views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, presenting the nightmare to a global viewership.


Do not miss this life-altering exploration of dread. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this launch day to confront these spiritual awakenings about free will.


For film updates, production news, and announcements via the production team, follow @YACMovie across your socials and visit the movie portal.





American horror’s tipping point: 2025 in focus U.S. calendar braids together ancient-possession motifs, independent shockers, stacked beside brand-name tremors

Running from endurance-driven terror saturated with biblical myth and extending to returning series set beside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the most dimensioned and intentionally scheduled year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. leading studios plant stakes across the year with known properties, even as streamers prime the fall with unboxed visions plus scriptural shivers. On another front, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the kinetic energy from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the other windows are mapped with care. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, though in this cycle, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Eli Craig directs anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Next is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re engages, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retro dread, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The new chapter enriches the lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

More contained by design is Together, a close quarters body horror study including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No franchise baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, Directed 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 framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic dread mainstreams
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

The big screen is a trust exercise
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals 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 centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The approaching genre year to come: continuations, new stories, paired with A jammed Calendar tailored for screams

Dek: The fresh terror season crams from the jump with a January traffic jam, subsequently unfolds through the warm months, and well into the holiday stretch, marrying marquee clout, new concepts, and well-timed calendar placement. The major players are betting on lean spends, theatrical leads, and viral-minded pushes that elevate these pictures into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

The horror marketplace has emerged as the bankable lever in studio calendars, a segment that can lift when it catches and still insulate the drag when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for decision-makers that cost-conscious shockers can dominate cultural conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The run extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers demonstrated there is room for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to director-led originals that translate worldwide. The upshot for 2026 is a grid that seems notably aligned across studios, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a tightened focus on theatrical windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and digital services.

Insiders argue the horror lane now works like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can open on nearly any frame, yield a simple premise for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and outperform with crowds that show up on early shows and sustain through the subsequent weekend if the offering satisfies. In the wake of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm reflects confidence in that equation. The year rolls out with a front-loaded January stretch, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while keeping space for a fall corridor that carries into the Halloween frame and into early November. The map also illustrates the tightening integration of specialized imprints and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and broaden at the inflection point.

A second macro trend is IP cultivation across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. Big banners are not just rolling another next film. They are seeking to position threaded continuity with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that conveys a new vibe or a casting choice that reconnects a next entry to a early run. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the marquee originals are championing hands-on technique, real effects and place-driven backdrops. That combination gives 2026 a confident blend of assurance and unexpected turns, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight moves that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the center, presenting it as both a lineage transfer and a return-to-roots character-forward chapter. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a fan-service aware framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with signature symbols, character spotlights, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Young & Cursed Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will build mass reach through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick pivots to whatever owns genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three differentiated bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that escalates into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that mixes companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a final title to become an headline beat closer to the teaser. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele projects are marketed as signature events, with a teaser that holds back and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, hands-on effects execution can feel elevated on a disciplined budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror blast that centers international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, holding a bankable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is describing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot lets Sony to build marketing units around setting detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can drive premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror driven by obsessive craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform tactics for 2026 run on proven patterns. The Universal horror run transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ladder that elevates both launch urgency and platform bumps in the later window. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, horror hubs, and featured rows to keep attention on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps flexible about in-house releases and festival pickups, dating horror entries tight to release and positioning as event drops arrivals with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a laddered of targeted cinema placements and fast windowing that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be meaningful 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+ assesses case by case horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with name filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 lane 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 sell is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the late-season weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas window to scale. That positioning has served the company well for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception allows. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the packaging is known enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Rolling three-year comps help explain the template. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not foreclose a day-date try from working when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium large format. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they pivot perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters shot in tandem, permits marketing to relate entries through character web and themes and to continue assets in field without doldrums.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft conversations behind the 2026 entries forecast a continued lean toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that leans on mood and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft coverage before rolling out a first look that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta refresh that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which match well with fan conventions and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that explode in larger rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is loaded. 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 tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month buttons 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 stiff, but the menu of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

February through May tee up summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

August into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card burn.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s intelligent companion evolves into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 tough boss try to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance turns and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to terror, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting piece that leverages the terror of a child’s shaky perspective. Rating: not yet rated. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that teases contemporary horror memes and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family snared by lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: pending. Production: active. 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 period-specific language and elemental fear. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 and why now

Three operational forces define this lineup. First, production that stalled or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and accelerated schedules. 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 outpaced straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can control a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will cluster across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can use 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 robust premium-format allocation 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 modest-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 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. 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

A Promising 2026

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand power where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, craft precise trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the scares sell the seats.