Antediluvian Evil Stirs in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding supernatural thriller, launching October 2025 on top digital platforms

A hair-raising occult scare-fest from narrative craftsman / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic horror when passersby become victims in a satanic game. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching depiction of staying alive and age-old darkness that will reimagine the horror genre this autumn. Brought to life by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and shadowy feature follows five individuals who wake up stranded in a far-off shelter under the hostile command of Kyra, a mysterious girl claimed by a 2,000-year-old sacrosanct terror. Anticipate to be immersed by a cinematic ride that unites raw fear with folklore, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a mainstay tradition in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is subverted when the malevolences no longer emerge beyond the self, but rather inside their minds. This marks the haunting facet of every character. The result is a riveting mind game where the tension becomes a ongoing confrontation between righteousness and malevolence.


In a remote landscape, five figures find themselves cornered under the malevolent force and haunting of a enigmatic character. As the companions becomes vulnerable to evade her dominion, severed and followed by unknowns impossible to understand, they are made to wrestle with their greatest panics while the clock brutally runs out toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear builds and associations disintegrate, forcing each cast member to scrutinize their core and the foundation of freedom of choice itself. The cost intensify with every breath, delivering a horror experience that marries demonic fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to channel raw dread, an darkness beyond recorded history, manifesting in our weaknesses, and testing a being that questions who we are when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra needed manifesting something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the evil takes hold, and that shift is soul-crushing because it is so deep.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that households internationally can experience this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has earned over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, delivering the story to thrill-seekers globally.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable exploration of dread. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these dark realities about the mind.


For teasers, director cuts, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





The horror genre’s watershed moment: 2025 U.S. Slate Mixes archetypal-possession themes, festival-born jolts, alongside franchise surges

From endurance-driven terror inspired by scriptural legend as well as IP renewals together with acutely observed indies, 2025 is lining up as the richest and tactically planned year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses bookend the months using marquee IP, in tandem streamers load up the fall with unboxed visions alongside archetypal fear. In the indie lane, independent banners is drafting behind the echoes from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, notably this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are precise, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

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

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline opens the year with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a clear present-tense world. Under director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: throwback unease, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. This time the stakes climb, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, speaking to teens and older millennials. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a close quarters body horror study anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

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

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It looks like sharp programming. No overinflated mythology. No brand fatigue. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Long Running Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony 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 original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, steered by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. 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.

Dials to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

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

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forward View: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The upcoming fear year to come: brand plays, universe starters, and also A brimming Calendar engineered for shocks

Dek The upcoming scare cycle builds from the jump with a January logjam, subsequently stretches through the warm months, and deep into the festive period, blending IP strength, untold stories, and data-minded counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are doubling down on tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and shareable marketing that position horror entries into cross-demo moments.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror filmmaking has solidified as the predictable lever in release plans, a segment that can scale when it resonates and still mitigate the losses when it under-delivers. After 2023 reminded buyers that lean-budget genre plays can dominate cultural conversation, 2024 kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The carry fed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and filmmaker-prestige bets showed there is appetite for many shades, from series extensions to non-IP projects that translate worldwide. The net effect for 2026 is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across distributors, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of brand names and original hooks, and a re-energized commitment on release windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Planners observe the category now works like a versatile piece on the release plan. Horror can launch on a wide range of weekends, deliver a clean hook for spots and reels, and outperform with audiences that lean in on opening previews and return through the second frame if the movie pays off. Emerging from a work stoppage lag, the 2026 configuration shows trust in that playbook. The year launches with a stacked January band, then plants flags in spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while carving room for a September to October window that carries into the Halloween frame and into the next week. The layout also shows the deeper integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and grow at the inflection point.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just making another continuation. They are setting up threaded continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title design that signals a new vibe or a lead change that links a incoming chapter to a early run. At the same time, the writer-directors behind the high-profile originals are prioritizing tactile craft, practical gags and place-driven backdrops. That combination affords the 2026 slate a solid mix of comfort and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile titles that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the spine, positioning the film as both a passing of the torch and a rootsy character piece. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach telegraphs a heritage-honoring approach without looping the last two entries’ sibling arc. Expect a marketing push driven by classic imagery, character previews, and a staggered trailer plan hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek broad awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format allowing quick pivots to whatever tops pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that grows into a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise strange in-person beats and brief clips that mixes intimacy and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions 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 leaves room for a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s pictures are marketed as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame lets the studio to maximize 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a raw, physical-effects centered treatment can feel big on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that embraces foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is calling a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around setting detail, and creature design, elements that can lift format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in immersive craft and historical speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s genre entries shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both FOMO and trial spikes in the downstream. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, genre hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on the horror cume. Netflix stays nimble about in-house releases and festival buys, confirming horror entries on shorter runways and eventizing go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a staged of targeted theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with accomplished filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for monthly engagement when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is simple: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a standard theatrical run for the title, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the September weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday slot to move out. That positioning has worked well for elevated genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using limited runs to spark the evangelism that fuels their subs.

Known brands versus new stories

By tilt, 2026 is weighted toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The risk, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a Francophone tone from a ascendant talent. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is familiar enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps outline the plan. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not preclude a same-day experiment from hitting when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in PLF. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reorient and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, movies with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to tie installments through character and theme and to maintain a flow of assets without doldrums.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind this slate hint at a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights aura and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in deep-dive features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built 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 promises a self-aware reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster aesthetics and world-building, which are ideal for convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that center pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Calendar cadence

January is loaded. 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 somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. 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 formidable, but the range of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late winter and spring prime the summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. 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 rotated off PLF.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a early fall window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card spend.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s AI companion unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

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 be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss push to survive on a desolate island as the control dynamic shifts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: marquee survival piece 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 from-today rework that returns the monster to terror, grounded in Cronin’s practical craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting setup that routes the horror through a child’s flickering POV. Rating: pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed and marquee-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that targets contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing scheduled 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 detonates, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a another family anchored to long-buried horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing. 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-precise speech and primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why this year, why now

Three pragmatic forces inform this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack 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 pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where value-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 left-field winner 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, tight deployments, 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 detail, aural design, and picture 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is franchise muscle where it helps, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.