Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts age-old dread, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, landing October 2025 across major platforms

This eerie otherworldly suspense film from creator / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an primordial force when passersby become subjects in a dark experiment. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing narrative of living through and timeless dread that will revamp terror storytelling this ghoul season. Directed by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five lost souls who regain consciousness caught in a far-off wooden structure under the ominous manipulation of Kyra, a young woman haunted by a biblical-era Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be hooked by a theatrical presentation that intertwines raw fear with arcane tradition, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a well-established foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is inverted when the malevolences no longer originate from external sources, but rather from their psyche. This portrays the most sinister dimension of the cast. The result is a edge-of-seat mental war where the plotline becomes a constant battle between light and darkness.


In a remote backcountry, five youths find themselves isolated under the dark presence and spiritual invasion of a enigmatic person. As the companions becomes incapable to escape her grasp, cut off and stalked by spirits unnamable, they are obligated to acknowledge their worst nightmares while the deathwatch without pity draws closer toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion amplifies and partnerships fracture, pressuring each person to reflect on their being and the integrity of freedom of choice itself. The intensity climb with every short lapse, delivering a cinematic nightmare that blends ghostly evil with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken raw dread, an spirit that existed before mankind, emerging via mental cracks, and confronting a being that redefines identity when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra asked for exploring something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the spirit seizes her, and that shift is emotionally raw because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering viewers internationally can witness this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has garnered over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, making the film to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this cinematic voyage through terror. Explore *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to confront these nightmarish insights about mankind.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and announcements from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit our horror hub.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 season U.S. calendar braids together primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, together with brand-name tremors

From survival horror saturated with scriptural legend and including returning series together with focused festival visions, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered plus deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Major studios lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, at the same time streaming platforms saturate the fall with unboxed visions as well as scriptural shivers. In parallel, the artisan tier is propelled by the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and now, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are exacting, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

the Universal camp sets the tone with a headline swing: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. With Leigh Whannell at the helm with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. targeting mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Eli Craig directs starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer wanes, the WB camp drops the final chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson re engages, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, and eerie supernatural logic. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The new chapter enriches the lore, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It books December, buttoning the final window.

SVOD Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a clever angle. No bloated mythology. No brand fatigue. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. 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. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives 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.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

What to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight 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 reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Projection: Autumn density and winter pivot

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching chiller calendar year ahead: Sequels, original films, together with A Crowded Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek: The current horror season lines up from the jump with a January wave, after that runs through the summer months, and deep into the December corridor, mixing marquee clout, new concepts, and well-timed counterprogramming. Studio marketers and platforms are leaning into tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and shareable marketing that transform these offerings into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the predictable release in release strategies, a pillar that can surge when it clicks and still cushion the floor when it doesn’t. After 2023 reminded studio brass that responsibly budgeted genre plays can lead the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The energy moved into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and filmmaker-prestige bets confirmed there is appetite for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to original features that play globally. The net effect for 2026 is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across companies, with purposeful groupings, a combination of brand names and original hooks, and a reinvigorated commitment on exhibition windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital rental and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the category now acts as a versatile piece on the programming map. Horror can open on almost any weekend, yield a quick sell for ad units and platform-native cuts, and exceed norms with viewers that arrive on Thursday nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the picture fires. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 mapping demonstrates assurance in that setup. The year launches with a weighty January run, then plants flags in spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while holding room for a fall cadence that stretches into late October and into post-Halloween. The map also highlights the increasing integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and grow at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across shared universes and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just making another sequel. They are aiming to frame lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a title design that telegraphs a tonal shift or a cast configuration that bridges a incoming chapter to a original cycle. At the alongside this, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing material texture, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a robust balance of familiarity and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two marquee bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the front, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a rootsy relationship-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a memory-charged approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run fueled by signature symbols, character-first teases, and a trailer cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format allowing quick updates to whatever dominates genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three unique releases. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s promo team likely to reprise uncanny-valley stunts and short-form creative that interweaves affection and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a name unveil to become an attention spike closer to the early tease. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His entries are branded as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second trailer wave that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to command 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, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a visceral, practical-effects forward approach can feel cinematic on a middle budget. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror blast that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is describing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both diehards and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around universe detail, and practical creature work, elements that can amplify IMAX and PLF uptake and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by meticulous craft and archaic language, this time set against lycan legends. The specialty arm has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that enhances both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix licensed titles with global originals and brief theater runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library pulls, using editorial spots, October hubs, and curated rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival wins, confirming horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with navigate here RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with prestige directors or star-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 corridor with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is simple: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, updated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the December frame to widen. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By number, 2026 leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness household recognition. The challenge, as ever, is staleness. The pragmatic answer is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a Francophone tone from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is grounded enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years announce the model. In 2023, a cinema-first model that kept clean windows did not stop a day-date try from working when the brand was big. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror rose in large-format rooms. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they rotate perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, permits marketing to thread films through character web and themes and to keep materials circulating without lulls.

Production craft signals

The creative meetings behind this year’s genre signal a continued lean toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that underscores unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft spotlights before rolling out a first look that elevates tone over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that centers its original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature and environment design, which work nicely for convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel necessary. Look for trailers that emphasize pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in big rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the range of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 set up the summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s synthetic partner shifts into something lethally affectionate. 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially 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 confront a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the pecking order upends and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to terror, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting chiller that filters its scares through a young child’s unsteady subjective view. Rating: forthcoming. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-built and marquee-led supernatural mood piece.

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 hot-button genre motifs and true crime fixations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further opens again, with a different family entangled with past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: underway. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 ancient menace. Rating: pending. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces shape this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and accelerated 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 surpassed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, clearing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will compete across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundscape, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is recognizable IP where it plays, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, hold the mystery, and let the fear sell the seats.