Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites age-old dread, a pulse pounding shocker, streaming October 2025 across top streaming platforms

A spine-tingling metaphysical shockfest from creator / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an prehistoric malevolence when passersby become proxies in a demonic struggle. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving account of staying alive and old world terror that will reshape genre cinema this scare season. Realized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and claustrophobic tale follows five figures who are stirred ensnared in a far-off dwelling under the hostile power of Kyra, a female lead inhabited by a antiquated religious nightmare. Brace yourself to be absorbed by a motion picture presentation that integrates bodily fright with mythic lore, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a mainstay motif in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is reversed when the malevolences no longer arise beyond the self, but rather through their own souls. This echoes the most hidden shade of all involved. The result is a riveting cognitive warzone where the plotline becomes a constant push-pull between righteousness and malevolence.


In a abandoned landscape, five adults find themselves imprisoned under the unholy effect and overtake of a obscure apparition. As the survivors becomes defenseless to evade her dominion, disconnected and chased by terrors unimaginable, they are driven to battle their inner demons while the time ruthlessly edges forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension mounts and friendships dissolve, coercing each protagonist to reflect on their core and the nature of decision-making itself. The danger climb with every passing moment, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that harmonizes ghostly evil with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to dive into deep fear, an force born of forgotten ages, operating within human fragility, and examining a force that dismantles free will when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra called for internalizing something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that shift is harrowing because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—delivering horror lovers from coast to coast can engage with this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its first preview, which has attracted over massive response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, spreading the horror to fans of fear everywhere.


Do not miss this unforgettable trip into the unknown. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to survive these dark realities about mankind.


For sneak peeks, making-of footage, and insider scoops from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across media channels and visit our film’s homepage.





The horror genre’s decisive shift: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts interlaces primeval-possession lore, independent shockers, stacked beside IP aftershocks

Ranging from survivor-centric dread inspired by ancient scripture and onward to returning series paired with acutely observed indies, 2025 is emerging as the most stratified paired with tactically planned year since the mid-2010s.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year using marquee IP, concurrently digital services load up the fall with unboxed visions plus ancient terrors. Across the art-house lane, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is propelled by the tailwinds from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are surgical, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Premium dread reemerges

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the base, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal starts the year with a headline swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. timed for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer fades, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson is back, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: nostalgic menace, trauma centered writing, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, grows the animatronic horror lineup, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It hits in December, holding the cold season’s end.

SVOD Originals: No Budget, No Problem

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror chamber piece with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative with Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in 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 an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No continuity burden. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Signals and Trends

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The next chiller cycle: entries, original films, plus A brimming Calendar tailored for frights

Dek The fresh terror calendar builds up front with a January pile-up, then extends through summer, and pushing into the year-end corridor, fusing franchise firepower, inventive spins, and tactical counterweight. Studios and streamers are relying on cost discipline, theatrical leads, and short-form initiatives that transform these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the sturdy release in release plans, a lane that can scale when it lands and still buffer the floor when it falls short. After the 2023 year showed executives that responsibly budgeted chillers can lead cultural conversation, 2024 kept energy high with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The energy flowed into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles made clear there is an opening for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a run that presents tight coordination across studios, with intentional bunching, a spread of marquee IP and untested plays, and a tightened priority on release windows that feed downstream value on paid VOD and OTT platforms.

Insiders argue the genre now functions as a plug-and-play option on the calendar. The genre can premiere on almost any weekend, deliver a tight logline for trailers and social clips, and outstrip with fans that lean in on advance nights and stick through the subsequent weekend if the offering lands. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 rhythm reflects comfort in that playbook. The calendar gets underway with a front-loaded January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while making space for a fall run that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and into post-Halloween. The map also highlights the stronger partnership of specialty arms and SVOD players that can launch in limited release, build word of mouth, and scale up at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is series management across ongoing universes and established properties. Major shops are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are moving to present continuity with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that binds a next entry to a heyday. At the parallel useful reference to that, the creative teams behind the high-profile originals are celebrating material texture, makeup and prosthetics and place-driven backdrops. That combination gives the 2026 slate a smart balance of recognition and novelty, which is why the genre exports well.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount fires first with two spotlight titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the center, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a back-to-basics character-focused installment. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach suggests a legacy-leaning campaign without going over the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave built on recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a promo sequence arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will build mainstream recognition through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format supporting quick redirects to whatever tops trend lines that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is simple, sorrow-tinged, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an intelligent companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date positions it at the front of a heavy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to echo off-kilter promo beats and short-cut promos that interweaves devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an PR pop closer to the teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele projects are sold as event films, with a teaser that holds back and a next wave of trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The spooky-season slot opens a lane to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has long shown that a blood-soaked, physical-effects centered strategy can feel premium on a mid-range budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror rush that spotlights international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio sets two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, preserving a bankable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is selling as a new take 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 explicit mandate to serve both diehards and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build marketing units around world-building, and monster craft, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors 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 driven by minute detail and dialect, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is robust.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform plans for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal titles head to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a structure that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video blends licensed titles with global originals and brief theater runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library pulls, using well-timed internal promotions, fright rows, and curated strips to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about original films and festival deals, dating horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like releases with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a two-step of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a curated basis. The platform has shown appetite to secure select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation swells.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clear: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the great post to read original a cult classic, reimagined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the back half.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas window to move out. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-driven genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Get More Info Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Brands and originals

By weight, the 2026 slate tips toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use cultural cachet. The watch-out, as ever, is audience fatigue. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is spotlighting character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a European tilt from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the packaging is comforting enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps make sense of the template. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept streaming intact did not hamper a day-date try from performing when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror exceeded expectations in large-format rooms. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they rotate perspective and raise the stakes. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to relate entries through character web and themes and to keep assets alive without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The filmmaking conversations behind the 2026 entries hint at a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that elevates atmosphere and fear rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in trade spotlights and guild coverage 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 set up for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and spurs shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta recalibration that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which are ideal for convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that highlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that benefit on big speakers.

Calendar cadence

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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the mix of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late winter and spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited disclosures that lean on concept not plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Project briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s virtual companion unfolds into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

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 encounter a unsettled 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 unyielding boss struggle to survive on a rugged island as the control balance inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s physical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting narrative that frames the panic through a child’s uneven subjective view. Rating: forthcoming. Production: completed. 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 comic send-up that pokes at hot-button genre motifs and true crime fervors. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 detonates, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a different family bound to past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBD. Production: underway. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 primordial menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 and why now

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

The slot calculus is real. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 breakout hunt 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, 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 pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, 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 ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, right-sized allotments, 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 dimensionality, soundscape, and camera work 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 Is Well Positioned

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.