Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primeval horror, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on major streaming services

One terrifying spiritual suspense story from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an long-buried entity when unfamiliar people become pawns in a diabolical trial. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of perseverance and ancient evil that will remodel horror this October. Realized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and eerie suspense flick follows five characters who snap to caught in a remote shelter under the menacing grip of Kyra, a female presence claimed by a time-worn religious nightmare. Be prepared to be gripped by a immersive venture that integrates instinctive fear with folklore, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a enduring element in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is challenged when the beings no longer manifest outside their bodies, but rather inside them. This portrays the most hidden element of each of them. The result is a psychologically brutal psychological battle where the tension becomes a intense battle between innocence and sin.


In a remote wild, five adults find themselves imprisoned under the possessive rule and haunting of a elusive figure. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to fight her power, cut off and chased by terrors impossible to understand, they are made to deal with their raw vulnerabilities while the hours unforgivingly draws closer toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease mounts and partnerships disintegrate, pushing each member to contemplate their personhood and the integrity of liberty itself. The intensity magnify with every breath, delivering a paranormal ride that harmonizes spiritual fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to uncover core terror, an spirit that predates humanity, emerging via fragile psyche, and exposing a darkness that strips down our being when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant evoking something deeper than fear. She is oblivious until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is soul-crushing because it is so raw.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring viewers anywhere can witness this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its intro video, which has been viewed over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, delivering the story to thrill-seekers globally.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable fall into madness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these terrifying truths about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and announcements from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit the movie’s homepage.





The horror genre’s watershed moment: the year 2025 U.S. release slate Mixes ancient-possession motifs, independent shockers, set against tentpole growls

Kicking off with last-stand terror steeped in primordial scripture to brand-name continuations as well as sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is coalescing into the most complex and carefully orchestrated year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Major studios lay down anchors by way of signature titles, even as subscription platforms pack the fall with emerging auteurs set against legend-coded dread. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is catching the afterglow of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. A fat September–October lane is customary now, notably this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, accordingly 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium dread reemerges

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

Universal’s pipeline leads off the quarter with an audacious swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early reactions hint at fangs.

By late summer, the Warner Bros. banner drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re teams, and those signature textures resurface: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, along with eerie supernatural rules. Here the stakes rise, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, grows the animatronic horror lineup, reaching teens and game grownups. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Digital Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable anchored 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 piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, 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 horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The 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 looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Heritage Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, from Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Trends Worth Watching

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

Body horror retakes ground
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

The big screen is a trust exercise
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The coming 2026 Horror season: next chapters, new stories, as well as A stacked Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The fresh genre calendar loads from day one with a January cluster, thereafter extends through summer, and straight through the holiday stretch, mixing legacy muscle, creative pitches, and smart counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are leaning into lean spends, cinema-first plans, and influencer-ready assets that shape these releases into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has turned into the most reliable counterweight in annual schedules, a lane that can scale when it performs and still buffer the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to leaders that low-to-mid budget entries can drive pop culture, the following year carried the beat with buzzy auteur projects and surprise hits. The run translated to 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles confirmed there is capacity for varied styles, from returning installments to non-IP projects that export nicely. The combined impact for 2026 is a grid that appears tightly organized across the field, with mapped-out bands, a spread of known properties and first-time concepts, and a refocused commitment on exclusive windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Planners observe the space now functions as a flex slot on the release plan. Horror can arrive on numerous frames, yield a clean hook for previews and social clips, and punch above weight with viewers that line up on opening previews and sustain through the next weekend if the picture works. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern demonstrates trust in that approach. The slate rolls out with a weighty January window, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that pushes into the Halloween frame and past the holiday. The arrangement also includes the increasing integration of specialty distributors and platforms that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and grow at the timely point.

A notable top-line trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and established properties. The companies are not just making another next film. They are looking to package story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that announces a new vibe or a star attachment that connects a new entry to a initial period. At the concurrently, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are returning to on-set craft, in-camera effects and location-forward worlds. That blend produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of assurance and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two big-ticket pushes that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the lead, setting it up as both a relay and a back-to-basics character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a throwback-friendly strategy without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Look for a marketing run driven by classic imagery, intro reveals, and a tease cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will foreground. As a summer counter-slot, this one will build general-audience talk through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format allowing quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three defined strategies. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, loss-driven, and concept-forward: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that evolves into a perilous partner. The date locates it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise uncanny movies live moments and bite-size content that interweaves devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books 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 official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title drop to become an marketing beat closer to the first look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s pictures are set up as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The Halloween runway lets the studio to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has established that a in-your-face, practical-first method can feel high-value on a efficient spend. Look for a blood-and-grime summer horror blast that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio launches two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is marketing as a fresh restart 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 focus to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build assets around setting detail, and practical creature work, elements that can drive PLF interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and historical speech, this time set against lycan legends. The label has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is glowing.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a stair-step that elevates both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the post-theatrical. Prime Video combines licensed titles with global acquisitions and limited cinema engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and curated rows to stretch the tail on aggregate take. Netflix keeps flexible about in-house releases and festival buys, securing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around go-lives with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that translates talk to trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has signaled readiness to take on select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is mapping 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 setup is straightforward: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, upgraded for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a theatrical rollout for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then working the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-first horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception supports. Watch 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 in concert, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Known brands versus new stories

By share, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness fan equity. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The preferred tactic is to brand each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the bundle is anchored enough to spark pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps announce the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not deter a same-day experiment from thriving when the brand was trusted. In 2024, auteur craft horror hit big in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot consecutively, lets marketing to cross-link entries through character spine and themes and to keep assets alive without long breaks.

Technique and craft currents

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the upcoming entries hint at a continued turn toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like 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 tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that elevates texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that elevates tone over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta recalibration that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature work and production design, which play well in fan conventions and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that spotlight pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. 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 marquee brands. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes red-band 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.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s DNA. 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 intelligent companion grows into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 difficult boss claw to survive on a desolate island as the control balance tilts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fear, built on Cronin’s hands-on craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting narrative that pipes the unease through a preteen’s flickering internal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that lampoons hot-button genre motifs and true crime fixations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites spreads, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a different family bound to older hauntings. Rating: undetermined. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBD. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBD. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 historical diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or shifted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage turnkey scare beats from test screenings, managed scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, making room for genre entries that can command a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. 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 underdog chase 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, soundcraft, and imagery 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, Ready To Roar

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, fresh vision 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, protect the mystery, and let the fear sell the seats.