Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primordial evil, a hair raising horror feature, bowing October 2025 on top streamers

An eerie unearthly nightmare movie from scriptwriter / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an long-buried force when strangers become pawns in a demonic game. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of staying alive and primordial malevolence that will remodel scare flicks this October. Brought to life by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five unacquainted souls who arise isolated in a off-grid cottage under the unfriendly manipulation of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a 2,000-year-old sacrosanct terror. Anticipate to be ensnared by a filmic experience that unites bone-deep fear with arcane tradition, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a historical trope in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is redefined when the spirits no longer originate from a different plane, but rather within themselves. This suggests the malevolent aspect of every character. The result is a enthralling identity crisis where the story becomes a brutal fight between good and evil.


In a remote backcountry, five teens find themselves imprisoned under the evil control and overtake of a unknown woman. As the companions becomes incapacitated to evade her manipulation, cut off and tracked by presences beyond reason, they are forced to reckon with their deepest fears while the moments without pity moves toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and teams erode, prompting each cast member to question their essence and the idea of conscious will itself. The cost climb with every tick, delivering a paranormal ride that intertwines demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to uncover elemental fright, an presence that predates humanity, feeding on our weaknesses, and challenging a presence that erodes the self when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra required summoning something darker than pain. She is oblivious until the entity awakens, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so private.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be released for horror fans beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing households around the globe can watch this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has been viewed over massive response.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, making the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Be sure to catch this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Explore *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to acknowledge these spiritual awakenings about inner darkness.


For previews, filmmaker commentary, and updates straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across social media and visit the movie’s homepage.





Current horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts blends old-world possession, independent shockers, together with legacy-brand quakes

Beginning with survivor-centric dread suffused with legendary theology and stretching into brand-name continuations and acutely observed indies, 2025 is coalescing into the genre’s most multifaceted combined with carefully orchestrated year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. Major studios bookend the months with franchise anchors, while SVOD players pack the fall with debut heat and archetypal fear. On the independent axis, indie storytellers is surfing the echoes of 2024’s record festival wave. Since Halloween is the prized date, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, hence 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s slate opens the year with a confident swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer tapers, Warner’s schedule rolls out the capstone of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson is back, and the tone that worked before is intact: period tinged dread, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. Here the stakes rise, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It lands 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.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold case horror anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga with Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. 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 all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is canny scheduling. No bloated mythology. No brand fatigue. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. 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 is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

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. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, with Francis Lawrence directing, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trend Lines

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

Body horror returns
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival hype becomes 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.

Big screen is a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

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 have to fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

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.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The new Horror lineup: brand plays, Originals, paired with A packed Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The upcoming terror season stacks at the outset with a January cluster, following that rolls through summer corridors, and far into the December corridor, blending IP strength, creative pitches, and smart counterplay. Studios and streamers are committing to smart costs, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that transform the slate’s entries into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has solidified as the dependable lever in release plans, a segment that can accelerate when it breaks through and still buffer the exposure when it underperforms. After 2023 reconfirmed for buyers that low-to-mid budget shockers can shape social chatter, the following year extended the rally with buzzy auteur projects and quiet over-performers. The head of steam flowed into 2025, where revivals and awards-minded projects proved there is a market for varied styles, from sequel tracks to one-and-done originals that translate worldwide. The sum for 2026 is a roster that presents tight coordination across the industry, with purposeful groupings, a balance of household franchises and novel angles, and a revived commitment on cinema windows that drive downstream revenue on premium on-demand and SVOD.

Planners observe the genre now works like a utility player on the slate. Horror can premiere on virtually any date, furnish a quick sell for spots and platform-native cuts, and lead with moviegoers that line up on previews Thursday and maintain momentum through the second frame if the picture connects. Exiting a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 setup shows confidence in that dynamic. The slate gets underway with a crowded January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for counterweight, while saving space for a fall corridor that stretches into the Halloween corridor and past Halloween. The gridline also includes the ongoing integration of specialized imprints and subscription services that can stage a platform run, grow buzz, and roll out at the timely point.

A notable top-line trend is IP cultivation across connected story worlds and storied titles. The studios are not just pushing another continuation. They are seeking to position lore continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a typeface approach that flags a recalibrated tone or a lead change that binds a fresh chapter to a classic era. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the most buzzed-about originals are embracing on-set craft, real effects and place-driven backdrops. That pairing gives the 2026 slate a this contact form solid mix of known notes and discovery, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece releases that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, positioning the film as both a legacy handover and a return-to-roots character-centered film. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a heritage-honoring mode without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run built on classic imagery, first images of characters, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will drive mass reach through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format allowing quick updates to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate lanes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward imp source branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an virtual partner that mutates into a harmful mate. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to revisit off-kilter promo beats and short-cut promos that interlaces attachment and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a branding reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His projects are framed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that holds back and a next wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween runway 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 heads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has made clear that a visceral, practical-first method can feel high-value on a lean spend. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror shock that leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio deploys two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is selling as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build materials around world-building, and creature work, elements that can boost IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places 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 characterized by textural authenticity and dialect, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a structure that maximizes both launch urgency and trial spikes in the tail. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data signals it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, genre hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival deals, confirming horror entries tight to release and elevating as drops drops with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a tiered of selective theatrical runs and prompt platform moves 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 using genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown appetite to invest in select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 arc with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clean: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a theatrical rollout for the title, an promising marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, managing the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then using the holiday slot to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for arthouse horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception encourages. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using select theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subs.

Legacy titles versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate favors the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use cultural cachet. The risk, as ever, is fatigue. The workable fix is to frame each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and talent-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the package is assuring enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Three-year comps make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept streaming intact did not preclude a day-date move from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium screens. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they shift POV and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 shot back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through personae and themes and to continue assets in field without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror indicate a continued move toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that centers texture and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft coverage before rolling out a preview that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster work and world-building, which align with booth activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that underscore fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that land in premium houses.

Calendar cadence

January is full. 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 somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. The month ends 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 formidable, but the palette of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

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

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card redemption.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s intelligent companion mutates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her prickly boss battle to survive on a far-flung island as the power dynamic swivels and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s practical effects and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 domestic haunting narrative that leverages the dread of a child’s mercurial read. Rating: pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that lampoons hot-button genre motifs and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. 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 surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a fresh family anchored to ancient dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, useful reference 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: not yet rated. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three practical forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or rearranged in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter timelines. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine turnkey scare beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can command a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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-hit hunt continues in Q1, where lean-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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, 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 tempo and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient placements, 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 texture, acoustics, 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is name recognition where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.