Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primeval horror, a fear soaked thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on global platforms

One spine-tingling occult fright fest from dramatist / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an archaic nightmare when unfamiliar people become tools in a cursed trial. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching journey of perseverance and archaic horror that will revamp terror storytelling this fall. Visualized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and immersive story follows five young adults who awaken stuck in a wilderness-bound shelter under the unfriendly rule of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a legendary biblical force. Get ready to be shaken by a filmic venture that integrates bone-deep fear with ancient myths, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a recurring tradition in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is twisted when the dark entities no longer emerge from external sources, but rather internally. This portrays the most primal facet of these individuals. The result is a riveting spiritual tug-of-war where the story becomes a intense fight between good and evil.


In a isolated landscape, five teens find themselves trapped under the ghastly aura and domination of a obscure spirit. As the ensemble becomes incapable to withstand her command, exiled and preyed upon by unknowns unimaginable, they are compelled to encounter their inner demons while the countdown unforgivingly winds toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion grows and bonds disintegrate, pressuring each survivor to rethink their being and the notion of free will itself. The consequences intensify with every passing moment, delivering a terror ride that marries otherworldly panic with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to channel raw dread, an evil that existed before mankind, embedding itself in mental cracks, and testing a being that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra required summoning something outside normal anguish. She is blind until the curse activates, and that transition is deeply unsettling because it is so close.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving streamers internationally can engage with this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its intro video, which has seen over notable views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, spreading the horror to horror fans worldwide.


Experience this mind-warping descent into darkness. Explore *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to witness these spiritual awakenings about our species.


For director insights, production insights, and updates from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across your socials and visit the film’s website.





U.S. horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. calendar weaves legend-infused possession, signature indie scares, set against IP aftershocks

Beginning with survivor-centric dread infused with biblical myth as well as series comebacks together with focused festival visions, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered combined with intentionally scheduled year in ten years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. Top studios lay down anchors through proven series, in parallel streaming platforms pack the fall with emerging auteurs set against mythic dread. On the festival side, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, but this year, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, which means 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium genre swings back

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with a confident swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. set 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.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

Toward summer’s end, the WB camp sets loose the finale from its dependable horror line: 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 guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, along with eerie supernatural rules. The ante is higher this round, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The new chapter enriches the lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It drops in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. 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.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No brand fatigue. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Brands: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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.

Emerging Currents

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

The Road Ahead: 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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The next genre season: next chapters, Originals, as well as A packed Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek: The brand-new horror cycle crowds early with a January bottleneck, then rolls through summer corridors, and deep into the festive period, braiding series momentum, new concepts, and strategic calendar placement. The big buyers and platforms are relying on responsible budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and viral-minded pushes that position horror entries into cross-demo moments.

Horror momentum into 2026

This category has solidified as the steady release in annual schedules, a segment that can scale when it clicks and still hedge the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that modestly budgeted pictures can command the zeitgeist, the following year held pace with high-profile filmmaker pieces and unexpected risers. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where revivals and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is capacity for a spectrum, from returning installments to one-and-done originals that perform internationally. The net effect for 2026 is a run that reads highly synchronized across the market, with defined corridors, a pairing of brand names and new concepts, and a refocused emphasis on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Executives say the horror lane now behaves like a flex slot on the programming map. Horror can launch on almost any weekend, create a tight logline for previews and TikTok spots, and outpace with crowds that arrive on preview nights and maintain momentum through the sophomore frame if the title pays off. Exiting a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout underscores trust in that dynamic. The year kicks off with a busy January corridor, then uses spring and early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a fall corridor that carries into spooky season and past the holiday. The program also spotlights the expanded integration of specialized imprints and home platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and move wide at the strategic time.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across brand ecosystems and storied titles. The companies are not just releasing another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a new tone or a star attachment that ties a new installment to a initial period. At the parallel to that, the helmers behind the most watched originals are prioritizing real-world builds, in-camera effects and grounded locations. That alloy provides the 2026 slate a vital pairing of brand comfort and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount opens strong with two centerpiece bets that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a cross-generational handoff and a heritage-centered character study. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative posture suggests a fan-service aware treatment without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Anticipate a campaign stacked with classic imagery, first images of characters, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a summer relief option, this one will build wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three distinct entries. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is efficient, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an machine companion that escalates into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back odd public stunts and snackable content that melds intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a public title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele titles are positioned as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The spooky-season slot gives Universal room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has shown that a raw, practical-first treatment can feel elevated on a middle budget. Look for a grime-caked summer horror surge that maximizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is positioning as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both fans and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around narrative world, and creature builds, elements that can increase IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by rigorous craft and textual fidelity, this time exploring werewolf lore. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform strategies for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a cadence that elevates both premiere heat and sign-up momentum in the after-window. Prime Video combines outside acquisitions with world buys and brief theater runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library pulls, using curated hubs, spooky hubs, and collection rows to sustain interest on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries near their drops and framing as events rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of precision releases and swift platform pivots that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to secure select projects with accomplished filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for platform stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is structuring 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 offer is uncomplicated: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, modernized 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. The distributor has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday dates to widen. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception prompts. Look 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 as partners, using limited runs to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By tilt, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate marquee value. The risk, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to present each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-tinted vision from a fresh helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the team and cast is known enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set illuminate the plan. In 2023, a exclusive window model that maintained windows did not preclude a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation 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 carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through character spine and themes and to leave creative active without dead zones.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind this year’s genre point to a continued lean toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that emphasizes creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for booth activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that shine in top rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is full. 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 tonal palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month finishes 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 legit, but the tonal variety ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth endures.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and click to read more animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card burn.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s digital partner shifts into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the chain of command reverses and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, shaped by Cronin’s physical craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting piece that refracts terror through a youth’s uncertain perspective. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-crafted and A-list fronted occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that teases current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites erupts, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan linked to older hauntings. Rating: pending. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-driven horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and elemental dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 and why now

Three workable forces organize this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and tighter schedules. 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine meme-ready beats from test screenings, select scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

The slot calculus is real. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will share space across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 lower and mid-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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first unexpected 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

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

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, soundcraft, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Promising 2026

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand power where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, guard the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.