Age-old Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding chiller, launching October 2025 across premium platforms

An chilling metaphysical thriller from author / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an mythic nightmare when unrelated individuals become tools in a hellish ritual. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking saga of struggle and forgotten curse that will alter scare flicks this cool-weather season. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and cinematic fearfest follows five teens who wake up imprisoned in a isolated house under the oppressive command of Kyra, a central character occupied by a antiquated ancient fiend. Arm yourself to be captivated by a big screen event that merges bone-deep fear with arcane tradition, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a enduring element in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is reimagined when the fiends no longer manifest from external sources, but rather from their core. This suggests the darkest part of these individuals. The result is a relentless mind game where the drama becomes a ongoing fight between light and darkness.


In a unforgiving wilderness, five teens find themselves caught under the malevolent dominion and possession of a obscure being. As the group becomes vulnerable to oppose her will, stranded and stalked by forces indescribable, they are made to reckon with their raw vulnerabilities while the timeline mercilessly moves toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust deepens and partnerships dissolve, compelling each soul to evaluate their essence and the concept of personal agency itself. The threat accelerate with every minute, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that fuses ghostly evil with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to explore primitive panic, an malevolence rooted in antiquity, working through emotional vulnerability, and challenging a being that forces self-examination when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was about accessing something darker than pain. She is oblivious until the possession kicks in, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so deep.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing streamers around the globe can be part of this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its initial teaser, which has received over massive response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, spreading the horror to a worldwide audience.


Avoid skipping this visceral path of possession. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these ghostly lessons about existence.


For film updates, making-of footage, and insider scoops from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your socials and visit the film’s website.





Current horror’s tipping point: calendar year 2025 stateside slate integrates archetypal-possession themes, art-house nightmares, paired with Franchise Rumbles

Beginning with grit-forward survival fare inspired by primordial scripture to franchise returns paired with incisive indie visions, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted plus carefully orchestrated year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. major banners hold down the year with franchise anchors, even as streaming platforms prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs as well as legend-coded dread. At the same time, the artisan tier is riding the backdraft of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are methodical, hence 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are assertive. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal begins the calendar with a big gambit: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer wanes, Warner’s schedule releases the last chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It drops in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Offerings: No Budget, No Problem

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

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative starring Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Penned and steered 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 night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a calculated bet. No overweight mythology. No franchise baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

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 gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Brands: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. 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.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The oncoming spook cycle: installments, filmmaker-first projects, And A hectic Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek The fresh terror cycle clusters early with a January glut, after that carries through the summer months, and far into the winter holidays, braiding series momentum, creative pitches, and strategic counterplay. Studios and streamers are focusing on smart costs, cinema-first plans, and shareable marketing that frame these pictures into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has emerged as the bankable option in programming grids, a segment that can spike when it clicks and still limit the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 demonstrated to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with director-led heat and quiet over-performers. The run carried into 2025, where reboots and elevated films signaled there is a market for diverse approaches, from series extensions to fresh IP that travel well. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a calendar that shows rare alignment across the industry, with defined corridors, a spread of legacy names and new packages, and a revived priority on big-screen windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital and home platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now acts as a flex slot on the grid. The genre can premiere on numerous frames, generate a grabby hook for teasers and reels, and overperform with demo groups that appear on previews Thursday and sustain through the second frame if the offering hits. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup exhibits assurance in that equation. The year launches with a heavy January window, then exploits spring through early summer for balance, while leaving room for a October build that carries into the fright window and afterwards. The map also underscores the greater integration of indie distributors and streamers that can stage a platform run, create conversation, and go nationwide at the proper time.

An added macro current is legacy care across interlocking continuities and storied titles. The players are not just producing another follow-up. They are setting up lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a logo package that flags a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that binds a latest entry to a first wave. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are returning to in-camera technique, on-set effects and place-driven backdrops. That pairing gives 2026 a solid mix of assurance and discovery, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount leads early with two front-of-slate entries that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the core, marketing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a classic-mode character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture conveys a roots-evoking approach without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run fueled by signature symbols, first images of characters, and a staggered trailer plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off 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 centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a summer alternative, this one will drive mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever defines the conversation that spring.

Universal has three specific entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is clean, soulful, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that grows into a deadly partner. The date positions it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that melds romance and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an earned moment closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His projects are set up as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor affords Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, physical-effects centered treatment can feel premium on a moderate cost. Expect a gore-forward summer horror shot that leans into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, continuing a reliable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is billing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both fans and curious audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build promo materials around mythos, and creature builds, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by obsessive craft and linguistic texture, this time driven by werewolf stories. The label has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run window into copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that boosts both launch urgency and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix outside acquisitions with global pickups and brief theater runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and programmed rows to maximize the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix remains opportunistic about internal projects and festival snaps, finalizing horror entries near their drops and making event-like arrivals with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Source Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a curated basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is uncomplicated: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, refined for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a standard theatrical run for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has been successful for prestige horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception drives. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Known brands versus new stories

By share, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is audience fatigue. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is spotlighting character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and visionary-led titles supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is grounded enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that preserved streaming windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from working when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they rotate perspective 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 two-step approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through relationships and themes and to leave creative active without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films telegraph a continued preference for hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers mood and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which align with fan-con activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is loaded. 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 quiet contrast amid bigger brand plays. The month finishes 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 stiff, but the variety of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late winter and spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming have a peek at these guys logic is coherent. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited pre-release reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s machine mate grows into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a unsettled 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 hard-edged boss scramble to survive on a lonely island as the power balance of power turns and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

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 reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s tactile craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting piece that toys with the chill of a child’s uncertain read. Rating: rating pending. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A send-up revival that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: pending. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a different family anchored to residual nightmares. Rating: TBA. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: TBD. Production: ongoing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three practical forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming placements. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate clippable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The breakout hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 unexpected 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, audio design, and image-making 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep the secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.