Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primordial evil, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on top streamers

A blood-curdling unearthly shockfest from dramatist / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an age-old fear when outsiders become puppets in a cursed conflict. Available October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping depiction of survival and archaic horror that will revamp terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and immersive motion picture follows five figures who regain consciousness locked in a hidden shelter under the menacing influence of Kyra, a young woman haunted by a timeless ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be hooked by a narrative event that merges intense horror with folklore, unleashing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a well-established trope in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is redefined when the forces no longer emerge outside their bodies, but rather inside their minds. This echoes the most sinister side of the cast. The result is a harrowing psychological battle where the intensity becomes a perpetual face-off between divinity and wickedness.


In a barren wild, five teens find themselves isolated under the malevolent aura and spiritual invasion of a enigmatic person. As the companions becomes defenseless to deny her manipulation, left alone and preyed upon by terrors unimaginable, they are required to acknowledge their soulful dreads while the final hour harrowingly runs out toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear builds and associations break, urging each individual to rethink their identity and the concept of volition itself. The intensity intensify with every breath, delivering a horror experience that marries mystical fear with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to extract ancestral fear, an darkness beyond recorded history, manipulating emotional vulnerability, and highlighting a power that questions who we are when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra asked for exploring something unfamiliar to reason. She is in denial until the evil takes hold, and that evolution is gut-wrenching because it is so close.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing users internationally can survive this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its first trailer, which has pulled in over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to viewers around the world.


Mark your calendar for this mind-warping ride through nightmares. Stream *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to uncover these evil-rooted truths about the soul.


For sneak peeks, director cuts, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across online outlets and visit our horror hub.





U.S. horror’s decisive shift: 2025 in focus stateside slate fuses legend-infused possession, indie terrors, in parallel with IP aftershocks

Running from survivor-centric dread grounded in mythic scripture to series comebacks paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered paired with precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year using marquee IP, in tandem subscription platforms front-load the fall with discovery plays alongside mythic dread. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is propelled by the carry of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the other windows are mapped with care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are disciplined, so 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a sharp contemporary setting. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, the WB camp releases the last chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It drops in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a close quarters body horror study pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story led by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a calculated bet. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just 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 fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Heritage Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, under Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror ascends again
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

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



The forthcoming 2026 scare Year Ahead: returning titles, standalone ideas, and also A Crowded Calendar tailored for frights

Dek The upcoming scare year crowds right away with a January wave, subsequently stretches through the warm months, and deep into the winter holidays, fusing IP strength, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are embracing responsible budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that pivot these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror filmmaking has established itself as the sturdy move in annual schedules, a corner that can accelerate when it breaks through and still insulate the downside when it stumbles. After 2023 proved to studio brass that modestly budgeted pictures can shape the discourse, the following year continued the surge with director-led heat and surprise hits. The trend translated to the 2025 frame, where resurrections and critical darlings highlighted there is an opening for a variety of tones, from brand follow-ups to original one-offs that perform internationally. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a slate that shows rare alignment across the market, with clear date clusters, a harmony of brand names and fresh ideas, and a sharpened stance on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now acts as a wildcard on the calendar. The genre can launch on a wide range of weekends, furnish a sharp concept for ad units and TikTok spots, and over-index with patrons that show up on preview nights and return through the next pass if the release satisfies. In the wake of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 layout indicates comfort in that setup. The calendar kicks off with a busy January corridor, then uses spring and early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a fall run that runs into late October and past the holiday. The layout also underscores the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can stage a platform run, create conversation, and move wide at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across linked properties and long-running brands. The studios are not just releasing another return. They are moving to present brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that flags a reframed mood or a casting pivot that reconnects a new installment to a classic era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on real-world builds, in-camera effects and site-specific worlds. That combination delivers 2026 a confident blend of comfort and novelty, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount leads early with two spotlight titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a classic-mode character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach hints at a legacy-leaning angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive built on iconic art, first images of characters, and a rollout cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is cinema-first 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will drive general-audience talk through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick switches to whatever dominates genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three discrete bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is simple, tragic, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an machine companion that unfolds into a deadly partner. The date locates it at the front of a stacked January, with marketing at Universal likely to echo odd public stunts and snackable content that fuses intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules 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 public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the first trailer. The timing offers click site Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele projects are treated as auteur events, with a opaque teaser and a later trailer push that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has established that a gnarly, practical-effects forward style can feel top-tier on a tight budget. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror blast that embraces global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio mounts two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, preserving a bankable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is calling a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both franchise faithful and fresh viewers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build materials around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can fuel premium format interest and convention buzz.

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 follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on rigorous craft and archaic language, this time engaging werewolf myth. The specialty arm has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is robust.

Where the platforms fit in

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a cadence that elevates both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video interleaves licensed films with worldwide buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library pulls, using featured rows, October hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival snaps, locking in horror entries toward the drop and staging as events debuts with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of selective theatrical runs and accelerated platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown appetite to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 arc with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas window to increase reach. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-first horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception supports. Do not be surprised by 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 tandem, using targeted theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By count, 2026 tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use legacy awareness. The challenge, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to present each entry as a new angle. Paramount is centering character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a continental coloration from a emerging director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects keep oxygen in the system. 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, features Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is anchored enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent comps clarify the model. In 2023, a theater-first model that observed windows did not stop a parallel release from thriving when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror over-performed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reframe POV and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character web and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without pause points.

How the films are being made

The creative meetings behind 2026 horror indicate a continued shift toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that foregrounds grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft spotlights before rolling out a teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for red-band excess, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta-horror reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to expo activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel essential. Look for trailers that accent surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is packed. 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 somber counterpoint amid headline IP. The month closes 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 serious, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Pre-summer months set up the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s digital partner evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: tone-first game 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 abrasive boss work to survive on a isolated island as the chain of command upends and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to dread, based on Cronin’s practical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting narrative that pipes the unease through a youngster’s unsteady perspective. Rating: TBA. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-financed and toplined occult chiller.

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 send-up revival that pokes at contemporary horror memes and true crime fascinations. Rating: pending. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. 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 breaks out, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a unlucky family tethered to long-buried horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 shifting, fall likely.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three operational forces shape this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or migrated in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

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

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns 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 icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sonics, 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is IP strength where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing 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, cut crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.