Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites antediluvian malevolence, a chilling supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 on major platforms

A haunting spiritual nightmare movie from narrative craftsman / director Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an archaic nightmare when newcomers become subjects in a dark trial. Debuting on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing account of struggle and archaic horror that will reconstruct the fear genre this season. Crafted by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and immersive cinema piece follows five strangers who wake up stranded in a cut-off structure under the menacing rule of Kyra, a haunted figure controlled by a antiquated biblical force. Brace yourself to be hooked by a big screen ride that integrates primitive horror with biblical origins, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a enduring element in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is inverted when the monsters no longer arise from an outside force, but rather within themselves. This suggests the shadowy part of each of them. The result is a edge-of-seat emotional conflict where the plotline becomes a merciless conflict between purity and corruption.


In a remote natural abyss, five young people find themselves confined under the possessive force and haunting of a enigmatic female figure. As the cast becomes paralyzed to withstand her influence, cut off and chased by forces indescribable, they are required to acknowledge their core terrors while the time harrowingly ticks toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust surges and relationships break, demanding each person to reconsider their true nature and the foundation of volition itself. The intensity escalate with every beat, delivering a frightening tale that combines otherworldly panic with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dig into primitive panic, an evil beyond time, emerging via psychological breaks, and examining a being that forces self-examination when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra required summoning something unfamiliar to reason. She is ignorant until the curse activates, and that pivot is eerie because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure horror lovers globally can witness this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, taking the terror to fans of fear everywhere.


Witness this cinematic exploration of dread. Explore *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to experience these haunting secrets about human nature.


For director insights, special features, and promotions from inside the story, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your favorite networks and visit the official digital haunt.





Today’s horror watershed moment: calendar year 2025 U.S. release slate melds legend-infused possession, art-house nightmares, alongside Franchise Rumbles

Kicking off with last-stand terror inspired by near-Eastern lore as well as canon extensions as well as sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is coalescing into horror’s most layered together with strategic year in the past ten years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio majors lay down anchors with familiar IP, while streaming platforms load up the fall with new voices as well as ancient terrors. On the independent axis, the independent cohort is buoyed by the kinetic energy from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween holding the peak, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, therefore 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium genre swings back

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate releases the last chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. While the template is known, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson re teams, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: period tinged dread, trauma in the foreground, and eerie supernatural logic. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The continuation widens the legend, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It drops in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Offerings: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror chamber piece fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Next comes Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No bloated canon. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

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

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Trends to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Fall stack and winter swing card

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The approaching spook lineup: Sequels, non-franchise titles, together with A stacked Calendar geared toward frights

Dek The emerging scare slate crowds right away with a January logjam, thereafter unfolds through peak season, and running into the winter holidays, blending marquee clout, new voices, and calculated counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are betting on tight budgets, big-screen-first runs, and short-form initiatives that turn these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has become the most reliable swing in distribution calendars, a segment that can expand when it connects and still limit the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 demonstrated to greenlighters that mid-range genre plays can galvanize social chatter, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The carry moved into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and critical darlings proved there is appetite for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to original features that scale internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a schedule that feels more orchestrated than usual across the industry, with planned clusters, a mix of known properties and untested plays, and a re-energized stance on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital rental and digital services.

Planners observe the category now acts as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can kick off on a wide range of weekends, supply a clear pitch for trailers and vertical videos, and exceed norms with moviegoers that appear on advance nights and keep coming through the next pass if the film hits. Coming out of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 cadence demonstrates conviction in that engine. The slate opens with a front-loaded January stretch, then turns to spring and early summer for balance, while saving space for a October build that reaches into late October and afterwards. The calendar also reflects the greater integration of indie arms and streaming partners that can stage a platform run, grow buzz, and broaden at the optimal moment.

An added macro current is franchise tending across ongoing universes and legacy franchises. Major shops are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are trying to present lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a reframed mood or a ensemble decision that ties a next entry to a classic era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the marquee originals are favoring physical effects work, practical effects and distinct locales. That convergence provides 2026 a healthy mix of known notes and discovery, which is how the genre sells abroad.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline moves 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 spine, positioning the film as both a handoff and a foundation-forward character-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the narrative stance points to a roots-evoking treatment without replaying the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. The studio is likely to mount a drive stacked with iconic art, initial cast looks, and a tease cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick updates to whatever defines the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate plays. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is efficient, loss-driven, and commercial: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that mutates into a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to replay viral uncanny stunts and micro spots that interlaces love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under this website working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a final title to become an event moment closer to the first trailer. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s work are sold as filmmaker events, with a opaque teaser and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has shown that a in-your-face, on-set effects led approach can feel top-tier on a efficient spend. Position this as a gore-forward summer horror hit that leans hard into worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio rolls out two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, holding a consistent supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is describing as 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 mission to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around world-building, and creature design, elements that can accelerate premium screens and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and dialect, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming windows and tactics

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s genre entries land on copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a sequence that enhances both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the late-window. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with world buys and select theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps optionality about own-slate titles and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a paired of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for platform stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, recalibrated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late-season weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to increase reach. That positioning has worked well for director-led genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception encourages. Look for an 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 together, using select theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchises versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The question, as ever, is viewer burnout. The preferred tactic is to brand each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is emphasizing character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a Francophone tone from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the package is steady enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent comps outline the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that honored streaming windows did not prevent a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was sticky. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they angle differently and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, lets marketing to cross-link entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep materials circulating without dead zones.

Technique and craft currents

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate telegraph a continued move toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that leans on creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that elevates tone over story, a move that has played 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 performs globally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta-horror reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature work and production design, which play well in expo activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. Universal’s 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 foggy reset amid headline IP. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the tone spread gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can hit 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 cycled through PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a transitional slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that trade in concept over detail.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on 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 increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and card redemption.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s synthetic partner escalates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: atmospheric 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 severe boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the power balance tilts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

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 contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, anchored by Cronin’s practical effects and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting chiller that leverages the fear of a child’s fragile point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A send-up revival that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 ignites, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new household linked to older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: to be announced. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: pending. Production: advancing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that paused or shifted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and pared-down timelines. 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, soundscape, 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 Shapes Up Strong

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.