Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

A terrifying ghostly thriller from writer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an primeval terror when guests become tokens in a dark trial. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of living through and old world terror that will reimagine scare flicks this fall. Visualized by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and atmospheric motion picture follows five young adults who find themselves ensnared in a off-grid hideaway under the unfriendly dominion of Kyra, a cursed figure occupied by a time-worn sacred-era entity. Be prepared to be hooked by a audio-visual experience that melds visceral dread with mystical narratives, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a enduring concept in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the entities no longer develop from an outside force, but rather internally. This echoes the grimmest version of the victims. The result is a enthralling internal warfare where the story becomes a brutal fight between right and wrong.


In a haunting landscape, five friends find themselves cornered under the ominous influence and overtake of a unknown woman. As the characters becomes helpless to reject her influence, cut off and tormented by presences ungraspable, they are cornered to encounter their inner demons while the timeline mercilessly ticks onward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust surges and bonds dissolve, requiring each individual to reflect on their essence and the principle of liberty itself. The stakes rise with every breath, delivering a paranormal ride that connects otherworldly panic with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to extract ancestral fear, an curse older than civilization itself, manipulating emotional vulnerability, and exposing a power that strips down our being when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra was about accessing something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the evil takes hold, and that change is terrifying because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—making sure horror lovers around the globe can be part of this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its intro video, which has been viewed over massive response.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, presenting the nightmare to horror fans worldwide.


Be sure to catch this heart-stopping ride through nightmares. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to face these fearful discoveries about mankind.


For film updates, making-of footage, and reveals from those who lived it, follow @YACMovie across media channels and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s pivotal crossroads: the year 2025 stateside slate blends Mythic Possession, microbudget gut-punches, paired with Franchise Rumbles

Moving from survivor-centric dread suffused with scriptural legend to series comebacks set beside incisive indie visions, 2025 is tracking to be horror’s most layered combined with carefully orchestrated year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. top-tier distributors hold down the year through proven series, in tandem streamers crowd the fall with discovery plays and primordial unease. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is carried on the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A fat September–October lane is customary now, notably this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are intentional, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal leads off the quarter with a headline swing: a modernized Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. Led by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. While the template is known, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The new chapter enriches the lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Originals: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story with Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

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 Underneath: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a calculated bet. No swollen lore. No legacy baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

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 hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
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 pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Season Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming scare slate: brand plays, filmmaker-first projects, alongside A brimming Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek: The fresh scare slate clusters from day one with a January traffic jam, following that flows through June and July, and far into the holidays, braiding IP strength, fresh ideas, and strategic offsets. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on right-sized spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and buzz-forward plans that pivot genre releases into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has proven to be the steady move in studio calendars, a lane that can expand when it catches and still limit the exposure when it underperforms. After the 2023 year showed top brass that responsibly budgeted chillers can steer social chatter, the following year continued the surge with buzzy auteur projects and word-of-mouth wins. The upswing pushed into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers signaled there is a lane for diverse approaches, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that travel well. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a calendar that shows rare alignment across distributors, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of known properties and first-time concepts, and a sharpened focus on box-office windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium on-demand and SVOD.

Schedulers say the horror lane now works like a schedule utility on the release plan. The genre can launch on a wide range of weekends, provide a clear pitch for ad units and short-form placements, and outperform with demo groups that turn out on previews Thursday and continue through the subsequent weekend if the feature fires. Emerging from a work stoppage lag, the 2026 cadence indicates comfort in that dynamic. The calendar launches with a front-loaded January lineup, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while clearing room for a autumn push that pushes into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The program also shows the expanded integration of indie arms and streamers that can nurture a platform play, spark evangelism, and go nationwide at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across unified worlds and classic IP. Big banners are not just pushing another entry. They are setting up continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a art treatment that conveys a reframed mood or a casting pivot that links a fresh chapter to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the auteurs behind the most watched originals are doubling down on practical craft, on-set effects and concrete locations. That convergence provides 2026 a smart balance of trust and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount defines the early cadence with two marquee moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, signaling it as both a lineage transfer and a classic-mode relationship-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a legacy-leaning campaign without looping the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push driven by recognizable motifs, character previews, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will build general-audience talk through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick reframes to whatever dominates trend lines that spring.

Universal has three defined entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is tidy, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an digital partner that escalates into have a peek here a killer companion. The date locates it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to revisit viral uncanny stunts and micro spots that melds love and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title drop 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.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are treated as marquee events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-month date creates space for Universal to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has made clear that a raw, practical-effects forward approach can feel premium on a mid-range budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror rush that spotlights international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is presenting as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both players and novices. The fall slot provides the studio time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake and fan events.

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 advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on rigorous craft and linguistic texture, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus’s team has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is warm.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform windowing in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases shift to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a stair-step that boosts both launch urgency and trial spikes in the back half. Prime Video balances library titles with worldwide entries and select theatrical runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library curation, using prominent placements, seasonal hubs, and staff picks to maximize the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about originals and festival grabs, locking in horror entries near launch and elevating as drops premieres with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a paired of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a selective basis. The platform has shown a willingness to take on select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical see here in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation swells.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday frame to increase reach. That positioning has been successful for arthouse horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception warrants. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using targeted theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their user base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, 2026 tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage legacy awareness. The caveat, as ever, is overexposure. The go-to fix is to sell each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is elevating character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-flavored turn from a rising filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is steady enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Recent comps frame the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that observed windows did not prevent a same-day experiment from delivering when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror rose in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they angle differently and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to keep assets in-market without doldrums.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries foreshadow a continued lean toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that elevates texture and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft features before rolling out a tone piece that keeps plot minimal, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and produces shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta reframe that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature and environment design, which favor booth activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that highlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that benefit on big speakers.

The schedule at a glance

January is busy. 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 quiet contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the mix of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with 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 jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a slow-reveal plan and limited asset reveals that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card spend.

One-sentence dossiers

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s synthetic partner grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss push to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to nightmare, grounded in Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting setup that explores the fright of a child’s unreliable perceptions. Rating: to be announced. Production: in the can. Positioning: major-studio and toplined supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satire sequel that skewers current genre trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: to be announced. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites spreads, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a unlucky family tethered to lingering terrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: closely held. Rating: not yet rated. Production: underway. 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 language and ancient menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026, why now

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence without needing horror 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, 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 Is Well Positioned

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand equity where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.