Ancient Terror Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked horror thriller, bowing October 2025 across major streaming services

An chilling paranormal shockfest from scriptwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an ancient dread when outsiders become vehicles in a malevolent struggle. Going live on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing depiction of resilience and forgotten curse that will resculpt horror this autumn. Visualized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and atmospheric film follows five young adults who find themselves confined in a wooded dwelling under the oppressive grip of Kyra, a female lead claimed by a time-worn sacred-era entity. Prepare to be absorbed by a cinematic outing that melds raw fear with mystical narratives, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a mainstay pillar in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is inverted when the presences no longer form from a different plane, but rather internally. This depicts the most terrifying version of the victims. The result is a gripping emotional conflict where the plotline becomes a unforgiving confrontation between moral forces.


In a unforgiving wild, five campers find themselves cornered under the evil dominion and haunting of a shadowy spirit. As the victims becomes helpless to reject her influence, detached and followed by terrors ungraspable, they are forced to acknowledge their darkest emotions while the seconds mercilessly ticks toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread amplifies and friendships splinter, urging each figure to question their core and the philosophy of independent thought itself. The stakes escalate with every instant, delivering a chilling narrative that combines demonic fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to explore basic terror, an darkness born of forgotten ages, channeling itself through emotional fractures, and examining a spirit that strips down our being when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra needed manifesting something far beyond human desperation. She is oblivious until the spirit seizes her, and that turn is soul-crushing because it is so unshielded.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be released for horror fans beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring households across the world can dive into this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its release of trailer #1, which has racked up over 100K plays.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, extending the thrill to scare fans abroad.


Witness this gripping trip into the unknown. Explore *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to explore these spiritual awakenings about mankind.


For cast commentary, special features, and promotions from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the movie portal.





Today’s horror Turning Point: 2025 in focus U.S. rollouts Mixes biblical-possession ideas, indie terrors, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Running from fight-to-live nightmare stories rooted in biblical myth and stretching into legacy revivals and incisive indie visions, 2025 stands to become the most stratified in tandem with intentionally scheduled year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors plant stakes across the year with established lines, while digital services front-load the fall with new perspectives set against primordial unease. In the indie lane, indie storytellers is drafting behind the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are targeted, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s slate sets the tone with an audacious swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Steered by 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. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate sets loose the finale from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson again directs, and those signature textures resurface: 70s style chill, trauma foregrounded, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This run ups the stakes, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, bridging teens and legacy players. It opens in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Firsts: Economy, maximum dread

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, a sealed box body horror arc led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga starring Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Scripted and led 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Brands: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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.

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forward View: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. 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 brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The new fright year to come: brand plays, universe starters, alongside A packed Calendar tailored for chills

Dek: The emerging horror calendar crams early with a January glut, before it extends through the mid-year, and carrying into the late-year period, combining franchise firepower, new concepts, and shrewd counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are leaning into mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and influencer-ready assets that position horror entries into national conversation.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has proven to be the steady swing in distribution calendars, a segment that can break out when it performs and still protect the floor when it does not. After the 2023 year proved to studio brass that efficiently budgeted scare machines can lead audience talk, the following year extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and surprise hits. The run moved into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays underscored there is a lane for multiple flavors, from ongoing IP entries to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The sum for 2026 is a grid that reads highly synchronized across the major shops, with defined corridors, a pairing of brand names and new concepts, and a sharpened attention on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on PVOD and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the genre now serves as a wildcard on the distribution slate. The genre can kick off on numerous frames, generate a quick sell for teasers and shorts, and overperform with crowds that show up on Thursday nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the offering satisfies. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 plan reflects certainty in that approach. The slate kicks off with a loaded January window, then primes spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while clearing room for a September to October window that runs into the Halloween frame and past the holiday. The calendar also features the expanded integration of indie arms and subscription services that can grow from platform, spark evangelism, and scale up at the precise moment.

A second macro trend is IP cultivation across shared IP webs and legacy IP. Studios are not just turning out another follow-up. They are seeking to position brand continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a typeface approach that flags a re-angled tone or a star attachment that threads a new installment to a original cycle. At the very same time, the visionaries behind the marquee originals are favoring practical craft, real effects and grounded locations. That interplay delivers the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and surprise, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount fires first with two high-profile plays that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a legacy handover and a return-to-roots character piece. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture indicates a roots-evoking treatment without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave fueled by classic imagery, character-first teases, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will lean on. As a summer alternative, this one will generate four-quadrant chatter through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick shifts to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three distinct entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is elegant, grief-rooted, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that turns into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a crowded corridor, with the Universal machine likely to replay uncanny live moments and short-form creative that blurs companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a public title to become an earned moment closer to the initial promo. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s work are treated as marquee events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to dominate 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has consistently shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven mix can feel cinematic on a mid-range budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror rush that spotlights international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio rolls out two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a trusty supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch moves forward. 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 reappears in what Sony is selling as a ground-zero restart 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 mission to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and creature design, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on immersive craft and archaic language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus Features has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a pacing that optimizes both debut momentum and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using editorial spots, fright rows, and programmed rows to sustain interest on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about originals and festival wins, timing horror entries closer to drop and eventizing releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a staged of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that translates talk to trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a selective basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with accomplished filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for sustained usage when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 track with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clean: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, reimagined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas window to expand. That positioning has proved effective for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception allows. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using targeted theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their membership.

Brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate leans toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap marquee value. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The standing approach is to frame each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a continental coloration from a fresh helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the cast-creatives package is familiar enough to generate pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comps from the last three years make sense of the template. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that respected streaming windows did not foreclose a parallel release from working when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror punched above its weight in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel new when they rotate perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years this page Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, lets marketing to thread films through personae and themes and to sustain campaign assets without pause points.

How the look and feel evolve

The creative meetings behind these films hint at a continued lean toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that centers atmosphere and fear rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in craft profiles and technical spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster work and world-building, which play well in convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the tonal variety lets each find 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 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a transitional slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a slow-reveal plan and limited asset reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then working 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 scale in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. 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 devastated man’s AI companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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 meet a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 hard-edged boss try to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power turns and paranoia builds. 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 kept quiet 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: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that leverages the dread of a child’s inconsistent perspective. Rating: TBA. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A parody reboot that targets current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 breaks out, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family caught in long-buried horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward pure survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: undetermined. Production: in progress. 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 era-accurate language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three grounded forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or recalendared in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more measured 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 dumps. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will jostle across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where midrange-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sound, 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 Shapes Up Strong

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand gravity where needed, auteur intent where it matters, 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shudders sell the seats.