Antediluvian Terror Ascends in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across major streaming services

This haunting unearthly suspense film from narrative craftsman / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an long-buried force when drifters become pawns in a supernatural ceremony. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping portrayal of perseverance and forgotten curse that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this cool-weather season. Visualized by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and eerie cinema piece follows five strangers who regain consciousness stranded in a isolated house under the aggressive rule of Kyra, a possessed female dominated by a two-thousand-year-old scriptural evil. Be warned to be absorbed by a motion picture spectacle that weaves together visceral dread with ancient myths, debuting 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 historical fixture in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is subverted when the entities no longer emerge from elsewhere, but rather from their core. This portrays the darkest corner of these individuals. The result is a harrowing inner struggle where the story becomes a ongoing battle between right and wrong.


In a remote backcountry, five adults find themselves confined under the evil presence and curse of a uncanny entity. As the characters becomes incapacitated to evade her will, severed and chased by powers mind-shattering, they are thrust to stand before their soulful dreads while the moments harrowingly strikes toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension intensifies and alliances fracture, requiring each person to challenge their character and the nature of conscious will itself. The hazard climb with every minute, delivering a horror experience that fuses ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dig into elemental fright, an malevolence before modern man, filtering through mental cracks, and exposing a spirit that challenges autonomy when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra was centered on something rooted in terror. She is oblivious until the possession kicks in, and that change is gut-wrenching because it is so raw.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be available for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving horror lovers in all regions can get immersed in this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has gathered over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, offering the tale to scare fans abroad.


Experience this bone-rattling journey into fear. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to dive into these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For previews, director cuts, and reveals from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit the film’s website.





Modern horror’s tipping point: 2025 across markets American release plan fuses Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, and Franchise Rumbles

From pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by near-Eastern lore and including IP renewals alongside focused festival visions, 2025 is lining up as the most stratified plus tactically planned year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. studio majors stabilize the year with familiar IP, in parallel streamers stack the fall with debut heat as well as archetypal fear. On the festival side, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the echoes of 2024’s record festival wave. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are surgical, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: The Return of Prestige Fear

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

the Universal banner kicks off the frame with a confident swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. targeting mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma as text, and eerie supernatural logic. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The return delves further into myth, grows the animatronic horror lineup, reaching teens and game grownups. It arrives in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Offerings: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in 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.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It reads as sharp positioning. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. 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.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror reemerges
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. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. 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. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The forthcoming 2026 fear lineup: follow-ups, new stories, as well as A stacked Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek The current horror calendar packs early with a January wave, subsequently stretches through the warm months, and straight through the year-end corridor, weaving brand equity, new voices, and strategic calendar placement. Studios with streamers are doubling down on efficient budgets, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that elevate these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

How the genre looks for 2026

The field has grown into the bankable move in annual schedules, a corner that can spike when it catches and still buffer the exposure when it fails to connect. After 2023 proved to studio brass that modestly budgeted entries can drive pop culture, 2024 extended the rally with signature-voice projects and stealth successes. The tailwind moved into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles highlighted there is capacity for many shades, from ongoing IP entries to original features that translate worldwide. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the market, with purposeful groupings, a balance of established brands and original hooks, and a recommitted commitment on release windows that fuel later windows on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Buyers contend the horror lane now functions as a swing piece on the programming map. The genre can debut on numerous frames, provide a quick sell for teasers and vertical videos, and outstrip with patrons that come out on previews Thursday and stick through the follow-up frame if the movie satisfies. Following a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern underscores trust in that approach. The slate commences with a thick January corridor, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while keeping space for a September to October window that stretches into the fright window and into post-Halloween. The arrangement also includes the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and streamers that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and grow at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is franchise tending across interlocking continuities and legacy franchises. Big banners are not just making another follow-up. They are working to present connection with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a re-angled tone or a star attachment that connects a incoming chapter to a early run. At the same time, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing on-set craft, on-set effects and location-forward worlds. That interplay delivers 2026 a confident blend of comfort and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount establishes early momentum with two headline releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, signaling it as both a handoff and a classic-mode character-driven entry. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the story approach points to a nostalgia-forward campaign without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run anchored in brand visuals, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm timed to late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will generate broad awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever leads the social talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is simple, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man sets up an digital partner that turns into a killer companion. The date puts it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit odd public stunts and bite-size content that fuses devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a official title to become an PR pop closer to the first look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele projects are positioned as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor lets the studio to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning method can feel deluxe on a middle budget. Expect a viscera-heavy summer horror shock that spotlights international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio sets two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, maintaining a reliable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is positioning as a ground-zero restart 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 well-defined brief to serve both fans and casuals. The fall slot affords Sony time to build promo materials around setting detail, and creature design, elements that can fuel IMAX and PLF uptake and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror built on rigorous craft and archaic language, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus Features has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is glowing.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s slate transition to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a pacing that enhances both launch urgency and subscription bumps in the later phase. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with global originals and short theatrical plays when the data backs it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog engagement, using editorial spots, spooky hubs, and featured rows to lengthen the tail on lifetime take. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix films and festival pickups, scheduling horror entries closer to drop and framing as events go-lives with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of precision releases and quick platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to buy select projects with top-tier auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation surges.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 lane with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is direct: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, recalibrated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, guiding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas window to expand. That positioning has worked well for auteur horror with crossover potential. this content 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 credible outlook is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By volume, 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 name recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to present each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a continental coloration from a buzzed-about director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-driven titles supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the bundle is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that honored streaming windows did not stop a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was sticky. In 2024, auteur craft horror over-performed in premium large format. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without lulls.

Production craft signals

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the year’s horror indicate a continued tilt toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that elevates texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft spotlights before rolling out a tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-referential reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature work and production design, which are ideal for fan conventions and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel essential. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is loaded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect 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.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can win the holiday when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s machine mate evolves into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled 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 demanding boss try to survive on a cut-off island as the hierarchy swivels and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that filters its scares through a child’s uncertain internal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A send-up revival that targets hot-button genre motifs and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 ignites, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family snared by past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward classic survival-horror tone over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBD. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and primal menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or re-slotted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 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 my review here gaps. 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. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, soundscape, 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.

A Promising 2026

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.