Age-old Horror awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding feature, bowing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One eerie paranormal shockfest from screenwriter / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an age-old dread when strangers become proxies in a fiendish experiment. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing saga of overcoming and mythic evil that will reconstruct the horror genre this cool-weather season. Visualized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and emotionally thick motion picture follows five young adults who arise locked in a wooded structure under the sinister influence of Kyra, a female lead overtaken by a timeless holy text monster. Brace yourself to be enthralled by a theatrical journey that melds gut-punch terror with arcane tradition, hitting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a well-established motif in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is flipped when the monsters no longer emerge from beyond, but rather internally. This marks the grimmest corner of the cast. The result is a gripping psychological battle where the tension becomes a constant struggle between good and evil.


In a forsaken outland, five campers find themselves stuck under the fiendish control and inhabitation of a elusive female presence. As the team becomes powerless to fight her manipulation, cut off and hunted by creatures ungraspable, they are obligated to endure their core terrors while the timeline without pity draws closer toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear mounts and partnerships erode, requiring each individual to evaluate their values and the foundation of free will itself. The consequences amplify with every minute, delivering a paranormal ride that weaves together demonic fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to draw upon core terror, an power beyond time, channeling itself through human fragility, and exposing a curse that dismantles free will when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra required summoning something far beyond human desperation. She is clueless until the spirit seizes her, and that flip is shocking because it is so raw.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for public screening beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—allowing customers globally can experience this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has collected over strong viewer count.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, making the film to scare fans abroad.


Do not miss this bone-rattling exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to see these ghostly lessons about existence.


For film updates, behind-the-scenes content, and updates from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit youngandcursed.com.





Current horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 American release plan integrates Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, paired with legacy-brand quakes

Across survivor-centric dread drawn from ancient scripture and extending to canon extensions and focused festival visions, 2025 appears poised to be the richest in tandem with deliberate year in a decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios bookend the months via recognizable brands, in tandem streaming platforms flood the fall with emerging auteurs in concert with ancestral chills. On another front, the art-house flank is surfing the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a big gambit: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Directed by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Led by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer wanes, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and those signature textures resurface: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. The bar is raised this go, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Tight funds, wide impact

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a smart play. No heavy handed lore. No series drag. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

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

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Series Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The oncoming fear lineup: Sequels, universe starters, as well as A Crowded Calendar calibrated for nightmares

Dek: The current genre calendar lines up at the outset with a January logjam, after that spreads through the mid-year, and carrying into the holidays, blending brand heft, untold stories, and tactical calendar placement. Major distributors and platforms are doubling down on smart costs, cinema-first plans, and shareable marketing that transform these offerings into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror sector has become the most reliable release in studio slates, a genre that can grow when it hits and still limit the downside when it doesn’t. After 2023 demonstrated to greenlighters that low-to-mid budget chillers can drive the zeitgeist, the following year carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and stealth successes. The trend translated to the 2025 frame, where re-entries and filmmaker-prestige bets signaled there is an opening for a spectrum, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a roster that looks unusually coordinated across the industry, with mapped-out bands, a mix of legacy names and first-time concepts, and a renewed priority on box-office windows that feed downstream value on paid VOD and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now works like a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can premiere on open real estate, provide a clean hook for spots and short-form placements, and over-index with ticket buyers that turn out on advance nights and sustain through the subsequent weekend if the title hits. Post a production delay era, the 2026 cadence telegraphs belief in that engine. The year rolls out with a crowded January window, then leans on spring and early summer for alternate plays, while making space for a late-year stretch that connects to the Halloween corridor and past the holiday. The program also includes the tightening integration of indie distributors and digital platforms that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the timely point.

An added macro current is brand curation across ongoing universes and legacy franchises. Studios are not just turning out another entry. They are shaping as story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a title treatment that suggests a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that binds a next entry to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the helmers behind the high-profile originals are celebrating material texture, physical gags and concrete locations. That convergence hands 2026 a strong blend of familiarity and novelty, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two spotlight pushes that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a baton pass and a return-to-roots character study. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach indicates a fan-service aware campaign without recycling the last two entries’ sibling arc. A campaign is expected driven by iconic art, early character teases, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will chase mainstream recognition through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick pivots to whatever defines the social talk that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, somber, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an algorithmic mate that evolves into a dangerous lover. The date positions it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s marketing likely to recreate uncanny live moments and bite-size content that interweaves devotion and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s releases are positioned as marquee events, with a opaque teaser and a follow-up trailer set that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-month date affords Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has long shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven execution can feel big on a middle budget. Frame it as a viscera-heavy summer horror jolt that pushes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, sustaining a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is presenting 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 loyalists and general audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build marketing units around mythos, and creature design, elements that can fuel PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in minute detail and linguistic texture, this time circling werewolf lore. The specialty arm has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is favorable.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on established tracks. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ladder that fortifies both opening-weekend urgency and viewer acquisition in the tail. Prime Video combines library titles with worldwide buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using timely promos, Halloween hubs, and curated strips to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries tight to release and eventizing launches with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of targeted theatrical exposure and fast windowing that converts WOM to subscribers. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has proven amenable to board select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 track with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is direct: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, refined for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late-season weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday frame to move out. That positioning has helped for prestige horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception encourages. Expect 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 together, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

IP versus fresh ideas

By volume, 2026 tips toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on brand equity. The question, as ever, is overexposure. The preferred tactic is to market each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is foregrounding relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the team and cast is assuring enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Comps from the last three years frame the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that honored streaming windows did not block a same-day experiment from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel check over here alive when they change perspective and elevate scope. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The shop talk behind this year’s genre signal a continued tilt toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like 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 moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on mood and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a preview that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that centers its original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster work and world-building, which lend themselves to booth activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel key. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that benefit on big speakers.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the spread of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week Young & Cursed structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring prime the summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a pre-October slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a slow-reveal plan and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card spend.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to face 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 widowed man’s digital partner mutates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 tough boss work to survive on a lonely island as the control dynamic reverses and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top click site cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting premise that explores the horror of a child’s mercurial read. Rating: not yet rated. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-grade and star-fronted haunting thriller.

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 pokes at today’s horror trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: lensing scheduled 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 surges, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a unlucky family caught in older hauntings. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on true survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. 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: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 lands now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces shape this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter schedules. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will share space across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 surprise-hit pursuit 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 capitalize on those pockets. 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. 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 feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, aural design, and camera work 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 Shapes Up Strong

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is name recognition where it counts, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the fear sell the seats.