Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a bone chilling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across top streaming platforms

A bone-chilling occult scare-fest from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an prehistoric fear when guests become subjects in a diabolical game. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving tale of endurance and primeval wickedness that will reconstruct scare flicks this ghoul season. Produced by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric screenplay follows five figures who arise stuck in a remote hideaway under the malevolent influence of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a 2,000-year-old biblical demon. Steel yourself to be seized by a big screen display that fuses visceral dread with ancestral stories, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a long-standing concept in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is redefined when the beings no longer originate beyond the self, but rather inside them. This embodies the most terrifying part of the cast. The result is a psychologically brutal inner struggle where the intensity becomes a unyielding fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a bleak wilderness, five characters find themselves stuck under the ghastly effect and possession of a uncanny person. As the cast becomes helpless to escape her control, stranded and tracked by evils impossible to understand, they are forced to reckon with their core terrors while the doomsday meter brutally pushes forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust escalates and links erode, compelling each soul to scrutinize their core and the integrity of autonomy itself. The risk intensify with every minute, delivering a chilling narrative that integrates otherworldly suspense with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to evoke basic terror, an force from ancient eras, channeling itself through soul-level flaws, and challenging a spirit that dismantles free will when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is oblivious until the evil takes hold, and that turn is deeply unsettling because it is so raw.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for horror fans beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that households internationally can watch this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its initial teaser, which has collected over six-figure audience.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, offering the tale to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this heart-stopping journey into fear. Watch *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to experience these unholy truths about existence.


For sneak peeks, extra content, and updates from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit youngandcursed.com.





Contemporary horror’s sea change: 2025 in focus American release plan melds Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, together with IP aftershocks

Spanning last-stand terror steeped in old testament echoes and stretching into brand-name continuations and incisive indie visions, 2025 looks like the most dimensioned combined with strategic year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. the big studios set cornerstones with established lines, as SVOD players front-load the fall with new perspectives set against mythic dread. At the same time, the independent cohort is catching the uplift of 2024’s record festival wave. Since Halloween is the prized date, 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. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Elevated fear reclaims ground

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a statement play: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. timed for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Steered by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson again directs, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma explicitly handled, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time the stakes climb, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Economy, maximum dread

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

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. 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. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Franchise Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

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

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. 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.

Key Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror swings back
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forecast: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next genre lineup: entries, filmmaker-first projects, And A hectic Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The arriving scare year clusters early with a January glut, and then rolls through the mid-year, and far into the December corridor, fusing name recognition, novel approaches, and calculated counterprogramming. The big buyers and platforms are relying on responsible budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and viral-minded pushes that elevate these pictures into national conversation.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror sector has proven to be the most reliable counterweight in programming grids, a lane that can break out when it performs and still cushion the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year re-taught leaders that efficiently budgeted pictures can command the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The run moved into the 2025 frame, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers made clear there is room for several lanes, from returning installments to director-led originals that play globally. The sum for 2026 is a schedule that shows rare alignment across companies, with obvious clusters, a mix of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a recommitted priority on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium video on demand and platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now performs as a wildcard on the slate. The genre can arrive on most weekends, offer a sharp concept for creative and social clips, and outstrip with viewers that respond on opening previews and keep coming through the next pass if the movie hits. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 pattern telegraphs comfort in that dynamic. The year kicks off with a busy January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while carving room for a late-year stretch that stretches into late October and into early November. The map also highlights the increasing integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and go nationwide at the inflection point.

A companion trend is brand curation across unified worlds and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just pushing another entry. They are working to present continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a casting choice that threads a latest entry to a early run. At the same time, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating hands-on technique, practical effects and specific settings. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of assurance and freshness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two front-of-slate projects that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, positioning the film as both a lineage transfer and a DNA-forward character-first story. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a legacy-leaning framework without repeating the last two entries’ sibling arc. Watch for a push centered on signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through 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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will chase mainstream recognition through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick shifts to whatever owns trend lines that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man adopts an AI companion that mutates into a murderous partner. The date positions it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s marketing likely to mirror odd public stunts and short-form creative that hybridizes companionship and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a official title to become an earned moment closer to the first look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are branded as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The spooky-season slot allows Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has made clear that a gnarly, practical-effects forward treatment can feel elevated on a middle budget. Position this as a hard-R summer horror jolt that spotlights international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio sets two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is presenting as a reset 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 directive to serve both franchise faithful and casuals. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign pieces around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can increase IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on obsessive craft and archaic language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The distributor has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a pacing that enhances both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up momentum in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances licensed films with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and staff picks to extend momentum on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival grabs, slotting horror entries near launch and turning into events rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of precision theatrical plays 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 leaning on niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a per-project basis. The platform has signaled readiness to take on select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is curating a 2026 pipeline with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is clean: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, recalibrated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a standard theatrical run for the title, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, stewarding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then using the December frame to scale. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-driven genre with broader reach. 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 run of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception allows. Anticipate an Source A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using small theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their user base.

Series vs standalone

By number, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The question, as ever, is brand erosion. The workable fix is to brand each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is underscoring character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a rising filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the team and cast is comforting enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday previews.

Comps from the last three years contextualize the plan. In 2023, a cinema-first model that observed windows did not foreclose a day-and-date experiment from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in large-format rooms. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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, with chapters filmed in sequence, builds a path for marketing to connect the chapters through cast and motif and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The production chatter behind these films hint at a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that highlights mood and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and medieval diction, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in long-lead press and technical spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta-horror reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature execution and sets, which play well in fan-con activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that land in big rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is stacked. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the spread of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

February through May prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late-season stretch leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-first teaser plan and limited information drops that put concept first.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card spend.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s intelligent companion turns into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the pecking order turns and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, built on Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting setup that manipulates the panic of a child’s shaky perspective. Rating: TBA. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A parody return that targets hot-button genre motifs and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a another family bound to older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on classic survival-horror tone over action fireworks. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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-faithful speech and raw menace. Rating: pending. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 lands now

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming launches. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage meme-ready beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where modest-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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, right-sized allotments, 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 texture, sound field, 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, Ready To Roar

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand equity where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the fear sell the seats.