Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 across premium platforms

An haunting supernatural fear-driven tale from creator / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an prehistoric fear when newcomers become tools in a demonic contest. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of struggle and ancient evil that will reimagine horror this harvest season. Crafted by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and moody thriller follows five lost souls who regain consciousness imprisoned in a secluded wooden structure under the aggressive power of Kyra, a haunted figure haunted by a 2,000-year-old sacred-era entity. Ready yourself to be ensnared by a cinematic presentation that fuses gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a well-established concept in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is twisted when the fiends no longer form from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This represents the most sinister element of the victims. The result is a psychologically brutal moral showdown where the tension becomes a ongoing contest between divinity and wickedness.


In a forsaken landscape, five friends find themselves isolated under the fiendish force and curse of a unidentified entity. As the youths becomes helpless to escape her command, stranded and attacked by entities ungraspable, they are thrust to acknowledge their inner demons while the time unforgivingly ticks toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear rises and links dissolve, driving each member to contemplate their core and the structure of freedom of choice itself. The danger amplify with every second, delivering a paranormal ride that integrates supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to evoke primitive panic, an spirit that existed before mankind, embedding itself in inner turmoil, and wrestling with a darkness that redefines identity when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra needed manifesting something unfamiliar to reason. She is uninformed until the spirit seizes her, and that transformation is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure households internationally can enjoy this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first preview, which has been viewed over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Be sure to catch this cinematic descent into hell. Watch *Young & Cursed* this launch day to see these terrifying truths about the psyche.


For teasers, extra content, and press updates directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our horror hub.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 U.S. Slate interlaces Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, and Franchise Rumbles

Spanning pressure-cooker survival tales drawn from ancient scripture and onward to returning series together with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 appears poised to be the most stratified combined with deliberate year of the last decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios hold down the year through proven series, in tandem SVOD players stack the fall with emerging auteurs together with ancestral chills. On the festival side, the artisan tier is propelled by the echoes from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween holding the peak, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The fall stretch is the proving field, yet in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures opens the year with a marquee bet: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. arriving mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

By late summer, the Warner lot unveils the final movement from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: 70s style chill, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. This run ups the stakes, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Plays: No Budget, No Problem

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a room scale body horror descent led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. 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 clever angle. No overstuffed canon. No IP hangover. 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 breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Series Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in 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.

Emerging Currents

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror ascends again
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forecast: Fall stack and winter swing card

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 scrap for air. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror Year Ahead: brand plays, Originals, and also A stacked Calendar calibrated for nightmares

Dek: The upcoming genre cycle loads from the jump with a January wave, then rolls through peak season, and deep into the holiday frame, balancing franchise firepower, original angles, and data-minded alternatives. The major players are committing to efficient budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and social-driven marketing that pivot these offerings into national conversation.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This category has established itself as the most reliable release in studio slates, a genre that can scale when it catches and still buffer the drawdown when it fails to connect. After 2023 reassured decision-makers that disciplined-budget fright engines can galvanize the national conversation, the following year kept energy high with signature-voice projects and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and premium-leaning entries highlighted there is space for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to original features that travel well. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a roster that seems notably aligned across players, with planned clusters, a spread of brand names and new pitches, and a refocused emphasis on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the category now operates like a utility player on the rollout map. Horror can bow on almost any weekend, create a sharp concept for ad units and platform-native cuts, and exceed norms with crowds that come out on advance nights and maintain momentum through the next pass if the movie hits. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping indicates certainty in that engine. The slate kicks off with a weighty January corridor, then primes spring and early summer for alternate plays, while holding room for a fall cadence that runs into spooky season and past the holiday. The layout also includes the greater integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can develop over weeks, generate chatter, and scale up at the precise moment.

A companion trend is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. The studios are not just greenlighting another chapter. They are working to present lore continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a title treatment that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a casting choice that bridges a upcoming film to a heyday. At the alongside this, the creative leads behind the most anticipated originals are celebrating tactile craft, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That interplay hands the 2026 slate a strong blend of brand comfort and surprise, which is why the genre exports well.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount marks the early tempo with two big-ticket titles that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the spine, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a return-to-roots character-focused installment. useful reference Production is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach indicates a classic-referencing framework without covering again the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Expect a marketing push centered on iconic art, intro reveals, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm targeting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will foreground. As a summer counter-slot, this one will hunt wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick reframes to whatever leads trend lines that spring.

Universal has three defined projects. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, soulful, and logline-clear: a grieving man brings home an machine companion that becomes a harmful mate. The date locates it at the front of a busy month, with the Universal machine likely to renew uncanny live moments and short reels that threads intimacy and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a branding reveal to become an headline beat closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s pictures are presented as filmmaker events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date offers Universal room to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning mix can feel prestige on a moderate cost. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that leans hard into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio rolls out two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, continuing a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both loyalists and novices. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign pieces around world-building, and creature builds, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror centered on historical precision and linguistic texture, this time focused on werewolf legend. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform tactics for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a stair-step that amplifies both launch urgency and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video combines licensed films with global pickups and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival snaps, confirming horror entries near their drops and staging as events debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and fast windowing that drives paid trials from buzz. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to secure select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 slate with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is tight: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, reimagined for modern sound and cinematography. 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 flagged a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festival season if the cut is ready, then deploying the year-end corridor to expand. That positioning has helped for craft-driven horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception merits. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their community.

Balance of brands and originals

By skew, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on marquee value. The caveat, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is underscoring relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the deal build is anchored enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set frame the model. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a parallel release from paying off when the brand was trusted. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror hit big in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they shift POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, provides the means for marketing to bridge entries through protagonists and motifs and to maintain a flow of assets without long breaks.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft conversations behind 2026 horror foreshadow a continued lean toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that underscores aura and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster work and world-building, which match well with fan conventions and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is jammed. Universal’s 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 atmospheric change-up amid larger brand plays. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the spread of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can hit 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 shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans recognizable. 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 pre-Halloween slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a slow-reveal plan and limited previews that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s AI companion evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively 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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss try to survive on a cut-off island as the power balance of power upends and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to menace, founded on Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting premise that plays with the fright of a child’s fragile point of view. Rating: forthcoming. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-scale and celebrity-led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that pokes at current genre trends and true crime fervors. Rating: TBD. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a young family entangled with returning horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 primal menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three execution-level forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will stack 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 exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 disciplined-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 use those gaps. 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, soundscape, 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 Is Well Positioned

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand power where it counts, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.