Ancient Darkness Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled supernatural thriller, launching October 2025 across premium platforms

A chilling unearthly terror film from screenwriter / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an timeless entity when unfamiliar people become proxies in a satanic struggle. Going live on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping episode of staying alive and prehistoric entity that will alter scare flicks this scare season. Brought to life by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and eerie feature follows five teens who regain consciousness stranded in a hidden hideaway under the dark grip of Kyra, a female presence consumed by a timeless sacred-era entity. Get ready to be captivated by a visual event that merges visceral dread with mythic lore, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a classic theme in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is turned on its head when the forces no longer manifest outside the characters, but rather deep within. This suggests the deepest version of the group. The result is a intense internal warfare where the drama becomes a perpetual clash between righteousness and malevolence.


In a barren terrain, five characters find themselves trapped under the sinister effect and curse of a haunted character. As the cast becomes powerless to evade her grasp, disconnected and followed by presences unfathomable, they are made to battle their inner demons while the countdown without pause pushes forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread surges and alliances erode, urging each cast member to reconsider their existence and the philosophy of liberty itself. The hazard accelerate with every second, delivering a chilling narrative that integrates demonic fright with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to extract instinctual horror, an threat that existed before mankind, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and highlighting a darkness that challenges autonomy when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant channeling something beyond human emotion. She is unaware until the curse activates, and that metamorphosis is shocking because it is so private.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for viewing beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure horror lovers globally can witness this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its original clip, which has attracted over six-figure audience.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, bringing the film to global fright lovers.


Mark your calendar for this life-altering descent into hell. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to see these haunting secrets about the mind.


For behind-the-scenes access, director cuts, and announcements from behind the lens, follow @YACMovie across entertainment pages and visit the movie portal.





Modern horror’s decisive shift: 2025 across markets stateside slate fuses myth-forward possession, indie terrors, alongside tentpole growls

Beginning with fight-to-live nightmare stories suffused with legendary theology and extending to legacy revivals plus incisive indie visions, 2025 is coalescing into the genre’s most multifaceted together with tactically planned year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. top-tier distributors hold down the year through proven series, in tandem streaming platforms stack the fall with discovery plays set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, horror’s indie wing is riding the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. Since Halloween is the prized date, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The fall stretch is the proving field, distinctly in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are intentional, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s pipeline opens the year with an audacious swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the tone that worked before is intact: 70s style chill, trauma as narrative engine, and a cold supernatural calculus. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The continuation widens the legend, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale featuring Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No series drag. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

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

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. 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 likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Brands: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Key Trends

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror comes roaring back
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Forward View: Fall crush plus winter X factor

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must 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. 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 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 genre Year Ahead: brand plays, standalone ideas, and also A loaded Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The brand-new scare season lines up from the jump with a January bottleneck, before it unfolds through the mid-year, and far into the December corridor, balancing legacy muscle, creative pitches, and data-minded counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are prioritizing lean spends, cinema-first plans, and social-fueled campaigns that convert the slate’s entries into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror has established itself as the consistent play in annual schedules, a segment that can scale when it resonates and still buffer the risk when it underperforms. After 2023 reminded leaders that responsibly budgeted pictures can command the discourse, the following year carried the beat with buzzy auteur projects and slow-burn breakouts. The carry flowed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and premium-leaning entries showed there is a lane for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to original one-offs that carry overseas. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across studios, with obvious clusters, a mix of marquee IP and new pitches, and a revived focus on theatrical windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and platforms.

Executives say the horror lane now serves as a schedule utility on the programming map. The genre can bow on open real estate, supply a grabby hook for teasers and short-form placements, and outstrip with moviegoers that come out on Thursday nights and sustain through the subsequent weekend if the film connects. Post a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 mapping telegraphs trust in that equation. The slate rolls out with a heavy January block, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that connects to the fright window and beyond. The schedule also features the tightening integration of boutique distributors and digital platforms that can stage a platform run, spark evangelism, and expand at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across unified worlds and classic IP. The players are not just pushing another follow-up. They are setting up brand continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a logo package that conveys a new vibe or a cast configuration that threads a incoming chapter to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the most buzzed-about originals are embracing physical effects work, practical gags and distinct locales. That convergence produces the 2026 slate a smart balance of comfort and surprise, which is what works overseas.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount leads early with two spotlight pushes that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward character piece. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance telegraphs a nostalgia-forward treatment without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Look for a marketing run rooted in legacy iconography, character spotlights, and a promo sequence slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

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 set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will seek mainstream recognition through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick redirects to whatever shapes the social talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated plays. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that grows into a killer companion. The date nudges it to the front of a heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to renew eerie street stunts and quick hits that fuses intimacy and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood 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 preserves a title drop to become an PR pop closer to the early tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His entries are framed as event films, with a teaser that holds back and a follow-up trailer set that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor affords Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning strategy can feel top-tier on a efficient spend. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that leans hard into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio sets two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, extending a trusty supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has reshuffled 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 returns in what the studio is marketing as a new take 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 mission to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around canon, and practical creature work, elements that can amplify format premiums and community activity.

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 advances Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and historical speech, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is supportive.

Where the platforms fit in

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that fortifies both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video interleaves licensed films with international acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, genre hubs, and collection rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival buys, timing horror entries tight to release and elevating as drops drops with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a laddered of focused cinema runs and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to invest in select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 slate with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is uncomplicated: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a cinema-first plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to expand. That positioning has shown results for craft-driven horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Watch for 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 hand in hand, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use household recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is spotlighting character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a European tilt from a hot helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the cast-creatives package is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

Comps from the last three years announce the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that maintained windows did not obstruct a same-day experiment from delivering when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in premium screens. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reorient and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to cross-link entries through protagonists and motifs and to sustain campaign assets without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind these films signal a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that foregrounds atmosphere and fear rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for red-band excess, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which favor con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that explode in larger rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is crowded. 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 brooding contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the menu of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May load in summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest this website delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a opaque tease strategy and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s digital partner evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

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 meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 difficult boss scramble to survive on a rugged island as the power balance reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s tactile craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting setup that routes the horror through a youth’s shifting personal vantage. Rating: not yet rated. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A genre lampoon that riffs on in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fascinations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites spreads, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a young family linked to long-buried horrors. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A new start designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-core horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: ongoing. 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-precise speech and primal menace. Rating: TBD. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 and why now

Three pragmatic forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming releases. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine clippable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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 rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sonics, 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.

A Promising 2026

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand heft where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.