Primeval Evil Awakens in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling feature, streaming Oct 2025 across global platforms

One spine-tingling ghostly fright fest from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic dread when drifters become subjects in a malevolent ritual. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving depiction of struggle and timeless dread that will resculpt the fear genre this October. Produced by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and immersive cinema piece follows five unacquainted souls who arise stuck in a wooded wooden structure under the unfriendly dominion of Kyra, a central character overtaken by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Anticipate to be ensnared by a narrative outing that blends soul-chilling terror with folklore, unleashing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a iconic theme in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is radically shifted when the fiends no longer develop outside the characters, but rather from deep inside. This suggests the malevolent side of the group. The result is a bone-chilling moral showdown where the events becomes a perpetual push-pull between virtue and vice.


In a barren no-man's-land, five teens find themselves caught under the evil control and overtake of a secretive female presence. As the protagonists becomes helpless to combat her will, detached and followed by terrors impossible to understand, they are required to face their core terrors while the seconds brutally edges forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread builds and links shatter, coercing each individual to contemplate their essence and the notion of conscious will itself. The intensity grow with every passing moment, delivering a fear-soaked story that combines occult fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to channel deep fear, an spirit beyond time, channeling itself through emotional fractures, and examining a curse that tests the soul when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra demanded embodying something deeper than fear. She is innocent until the entity awakens, and that transition is haunting because it is so internal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for worldwide release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure customers no matter where they are can enjoy this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its original promo, which has received over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, offering the tale to a global viewership.


Mark your calendar for this haunted ride through nightmares. Confront *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to survive these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For previews, on-set glimpses, and promotions from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursed across social media and visit our horror hub.





American horror’s decisive shift: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule integrates biblical-possession ideas, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside franchise surges

Ranging from fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with old testament echoes through to returning series plus surgical indie voices, 2025 is coalescing into the richest along with precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios hold down the year with familiar IP, in parallel SVOD players stack the fall with new perspectives plus scriptural shivers. On another front, the art-house flank is surfing the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, distinctly in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are targeted, so 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige terror resurfaces

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline lights the fuse with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. From director Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer eases, Warner’s slate drops the final chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson is back, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retro dread, trauma centered writing, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The bar is raised this go, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It opens in December, locking down the winter tail.

SVOD Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, an intimate body horror unraveling featuring Alison Brie opposite 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 lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative with Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by 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. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. 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 tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

The Road Ahead: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 genre calendar year ahead: installments, fresh concepts, paired with A loaded Calendar optimized for jolts

Dek The fresh terror year clusters right away with a January wave, after that spreads through midyear, and continuing into the late-year period, marrying legacy muscle, creative pitches, and savvy counterplay. Studios and streamers are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that shape these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This space has turned into the most reliable counterweight in programming grids, a space that can accelerate when it lands and still limit the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that efficiently budgeted shockers can galvanize pop culture, the following year held pace with auteur-driven buzzy films and unexpected risers. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where revivals and critical darlings signaled there is room for several lanes, from returning installments to director-led originals that perform internationally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of recognizable IP and untested plays, and a re-energized commitment on release windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the rollout map. Horror can roll out on numerous frames, furnish a clear pitch for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and overperform with demo groups that come out on preview nights and continue through the week two if the offering works. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup reflects trust in that setup. The year kicks off with a crowded January run, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a late-year stretch that runs into holiday-adjacent weekends and into the next week. The program also reflects the tightening integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and widen at the right moment.

A second macro trend is brand management across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. Studios are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are aiming to frame continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that indicates a fresh attitude or a cast configuration that threads a fresh chapter to a vintage era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the most watched originals are returning to physical effects work, real effects and grounded locations. That interplay gives the 2026 slate a solid mix of familiarity and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount plants an early flag with two marquee entries that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Source Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the focus, steering it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a legacy-leaning bent without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push stacked with iconic art, initial cast looks, and a trailer cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will seek large awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three defined plays. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that escalates into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a front-loaded month, with the Universal machine likely to renew off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that interweaves affection and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles 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 name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are set up as event films, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor offers Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has made clear that a raw, in-camera leaning approach can feel prestige on a tight budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that leans into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is marketing as a new take 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 core fans and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around narrative world, and practical creature work, elements check over here that can accelerate PLF interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in immersive craft and textual fidelity, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus Features has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is strong.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a pacing that boosts both week-one demand and sub growth in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances acquired titles with global originals and short theatrical plays when the data points to it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in catalog discovery, using prominent placements, holiday hubs, and curated strips to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival grabs, scheduling horror entries near their drops and staging as events premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a one-two of limited theatrical footprints and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a situational basis. The platform has shown appetite to secure select projects with top-tier auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is putting together 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 promise is straightforward: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, updated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has suggested a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas window to broaden. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception prompts. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using select theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By count, 2026 favors the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit brand equity. The watch-out, as ever, is staleness. The practical approach is to sell each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is centering core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-tinted vision from a hot helmer. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and visionary-led titles deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the configuration is steady enough to drive advance ticketing and preview-night crowds.

The last three-year set outline the method. In 2023, a exclusive window model that preserved streaming windows did not obstruct a simultaneous release test from delivering when the brand was sticky. In 2024, auteur craft horror hit big in premium large format. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they reorient and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters filmed in sequence, builds a path for marketing to link the films through character arcs and themes and to keep materials circulating without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The production chatter behind the 2026 news slate hint at a continued bias toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead features and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that elevates tone over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta inflection that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for convention activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that explode in larger rooms.

How the year maps out

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 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 thick, but the range of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

February through May set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reintroduces 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 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a early fall window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season 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 continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to 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 mourning man’s synthetic partner grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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 changing 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 difficult boss work to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance tilts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to fright, founded on Cronin’s material craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. 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 filters its scares through a child’s uncertain internal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. 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 reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that riffs on current genre trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: pending. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new household caught in old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in pure survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: pending. Production: underway. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and elemental fear. Rating: TBD. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 and why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work repeatable beats from test screenings, managed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can command a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will line up across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 underdog chase 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 shock 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, smart allocations, 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 visual texture, sound field, 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.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is franchise muscle where it helps, auteur intent 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.