Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes antediluvian malevolence, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A terrifying ghostly suspense film from narrative craftsman / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primordial terror when passersby become subjects in a demonic ritual. Available October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing journey of survival and primordial malevolence that will reshape the fear genre this ghoul season. Crafted by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and immersive film follows five characters who wake up trapped in a far-off hideaway under the dark control of Kyra, a female presence inhabited by a ancient ancient fiend. Prepare to be immersed by a motion picture spectacle that weaves together instinctive fear with legendary tales, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a well-established motif in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is reversed when the dark entities no longer form from an outside force, but rather inside them. This suggests the shadowy layer of every character. The result is a psychologically brutal emotional conflict where the tension becomes a constant face-off between good and evil.


In a barren natural abyss, five youths find themselves stuck under the evil aura and curse of a uncanny female presence. As the ensemble becomes vulnerable to withstand her grasp, severed and preyed upon by presences impossible to understand, they are required to stand before their worst nightmares while the hours without pity runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion grows and alliances splinter, pushing each cast member to reflect on their true nature and the philosophy of volition itself. The danger grow with every minute, delivering a frightening tale that integrates otherworldly suspense with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to explore deep fear, an curse that predates humanity, operating within emotional fractures, and wrestling with a will that redefines identity when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra demanded embodying something beyond human emotion. She is innocent until the haunting manifests, and that flip is shocking because it is so close.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—delivering horror lovers no matter where they are can experience this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its intro video, which has received over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, bringing the film to international horror buffs.


Tune in for this unforgettable fall into madness. Experience *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to survive these nightmarish insights about our species.


For featurettes, extra content, and announcements from behind the lens, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across media channels and visit our horror hub.





Today’s horror pivotal crossroads: 2025 for genre fans U.S. Slate fuses biblical-possession ideas, Indie Shockers, in parallel with brand-name tremors

From survival horror infused with biblical myth through to canon extensions set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the most dimensioned paired with intentionally scheduled year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Top studios lay down anchors with known properties, in tandem streamers pack the fall with debut heat as well as ancestral chills. In parallel, the independent cohort is buoyed by the tailwinds of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, distinctly in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are intentional, which means 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

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

The majors are assertive. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s schedule sets the tone with a confident swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retrograde shiver, trauma in the foreground, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The bar is raised this go, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, speaking to teens and older millennials. It bows in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 reads as sharp positioning. No overweight mythology. No IP hangover. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Badges as Fuel

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 fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

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, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Old myth goes broad
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 reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Projection: Fall stack and winter swing card

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

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

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The next scare year to come: brand plays, universe starters, alongside A stacked Calendar Built For screams

Dek The arriving scare year crowds from the jump with a January cluster, from there extends through the mid-year, and straight through the holidays, combining brand equity, untold stories, and data-minded offsets. Studios and streamers are committing to mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that frame the slate’s entries into cross-demo moments.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror marketplace has grown into the steady option in studio calendars, a space that can break out when it connects and still buffer the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year demonstrated to executives that responsibly budgeted scare machines can steer audience talk, 2024 extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind pushed into 2025, where revivals and premium-leaning entries showed there is a market for a spectrum, from ongoing IP entries to original one-offs that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a slate that appears tightly organized across the industry, with strategic blocks, a equilibrium of household franchises and new packages, and a refocused eye on cinema windows that feed downstream value on premium digital rental and streaming.

Buyers contend the horror lane now performs as a utility player on the calendar. The genre can launch on open real estate, supply a clean hook for ad units and TikTok spots, and over-index with ticket buyers that come out on opening previews and continue through the next pass if the offering lands. Following a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 layout reflects comfort in that logic. The slate gets underway with a weighty January window, then uses spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a fall run that carries into the fright window and into early November. The program also highlights the increasing integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can grow from platform, stoke social talk, and broaden at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is brand curation across unified worlds and legacy IP. Studio teams are not just making another next film. They are shaping as ongoing narrative with a premium feel, whether that is a logo package that flags a re-angled tone or a talent selection that anchors a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the most anticipated originals are championing hands-on technique, real effects and site-specific worlds. That pairing affords the 2026 slate a strong blend of known notes and surprise, which is how the films export.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount sets the tone early with two marquee entries that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the front, positioning the film as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture announces a throwback-friendly bent without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave centered on brand visuals, intro reveals, and a staggered trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after large awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tight, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that becomes a perilous partner. The date places it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to echo viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that hybridizes devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an More about the author untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a branding reveal to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. The filmmaker’s films are set up as signature events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second trailer wave that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has proven that a raw, on-set effects led execution can feel top-tier on a disciplined budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror hit that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio deploys two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is selling as a fresh restart 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 mission to serve both devotees and first-timers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in rigorous craft and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming windows and tactics

Digital strategies for 2026 run on known playbooks. The Universal horror run flow to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a tiered path that expands both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the post-theatrical. Prime Video blends licensed films with cross-border buys and limited runs in theaters when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog engagement, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and featured rows to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to drop and turning into events drops with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a dual-phase of selective theatrical runs and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with prestige directors or headline-cast packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for monthly activity when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 sequence 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 brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, retooled for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will great post to read work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then using the Christmas corridor to move out. That positioning has shown results for director-led genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. 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 small theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their audience.

Brands and originals

By number, the 2026 slate leans toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap marquee value. The potential drawback, as ever, is viewer burnout. The standing approach is to pitch each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is spotlighting core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the assembly is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Rolling three-year comps outline the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a day-date try from paying off when the brand was potent. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium screens. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel new when they pivot perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind this slate telegraph a continued tilt toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that emphasizes mood and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta-horror reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature and environment design, which are ideal for convention floor stunts and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that spotlight pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

Annual flow

January is loaded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid headline IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the menu of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

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

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a peekaboo tease plan and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s virtual companion unfolds into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: aura-driven 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 fight to survive on a lonely island as the control dynamic swivels and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to dread, based on Cronin’s practical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting setup that pipes the unease through a youngster’s flickering subjective view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that lampoons modern genre fads and true-crime obsessions. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a unlucky family caught in lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: undetermined. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on time-true diction and elemental fear. Rating: to be announced. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a big-screen run before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three hands-on forces shape this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, managed scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects 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, great post to read and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound, and imagery 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, Lined Up To Scare

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is IP strength where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.