Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A unnerving ghostly terror film from cinematographer / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an prehistoric horror when unrelated individuals become victims in a cursed struggle. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing episode of survival and timeless dread that will remodel genre cinema this scare season. Visualized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and cinematic story follows five unknowns who come to trapped in a unreachable structure under the oppressive sway of Kyra, a haunted figure inhabited by a 2,000-year-old holy text monster. Prepare to be ensnared by a screen-based display that fuses intense horror with folklore, landing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a recurring element in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is reimagined when the fiends no longer originate externally, but rather internally. This marks the shadowy part of the group. The result is a gripping identity crisis where the suspense becomes a constant contest between innocence and sin.


In a remote landscape, five teens find themselves isolated under the malevolent force and control of a obscure apparition. As the protagonists becomes submissive to fight her dominion, exiled and hunted by beings unnamable, they are pushed to endure their deepest fears while the moments without pity winds toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease builds and friendships shatter, forcing each member to examine their true nature and the idea of autonomy itself. The consequences climb with every beat, delivering a paranormal ride that merges mystical fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to uncover ancestral fear, an threat from ancient eras, influencing soul-level flaws, and examining a presence that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant evoking something more primal than sorrow. She is unaware until the demon emerges, and that pivot is bone-chilling because it is so personal.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—offering households anywhere can be part of this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has pulled in over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, spreading the horror to global fright lovers.


Join this bone-rattling descent into darkness. Join *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to acknowledge these chilling revelations about inner darkness.


For film updates, special features, and reveals directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursed across your favorite networks and visit the movie’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s Turning Point: 2025 U.S. release slate blends ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, alongside brand-name tremors

Ranging from survival horror inspired by primordial scripture through to installment follow-ups as well as incisive indie visions, 2025 is shaping up as horror’s most layered and blueprinted year for the modern era.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio powerhouses stabilize the year using marquee IP, concurrently streamers load up the fall with discovery plays alongside legend-coded dread. In the indie lane, indie storytellers is carried on the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are precise, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige fear returns

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

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with a marquee bet: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a clear present-tense world. Directed by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. timed for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner’s slate sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This run ups the stakes, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, broadens the animatronic terror cast, courting teens and the thirty something base. It arrives in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

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

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated canon. No legacy baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Brands: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

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

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

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

SVOD originals harden up
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The oncoming fear calendar year ahead: installments, universe starters, in tandem with A brimming Calendar aimed at screams

Dek: The incoming horror season loads early with a January pile-up, following that carries through summer, and carrying into the winter holidays, fusing legacy muscle, fresh ideas, and calculated counterplay. The big buyers and platforms are leaning into lean spends, theatrical exclusivity first, and buzz-forward plans that frame these films into four-quadrant talking points.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror marketplace has become the steady swing in annual schedules, a corner that can spike when it performs and still cushion the downside when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year signaled to decision-makers that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can galvanize audience talk, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with festival-darling auteurs and sleeper breakouts. The energy rolled into 2025, where returns and prestige plays made clear there is demand for several lanes, from series extensions to original features that play globally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a lineup that looks unusually coordinated across the industry, with defined corridors, a harmony of marquee IP and first-time concepts, and a re-energized emphasis on theater exclusivity that fuel later windows on premium rental and subscription services.

Buyers contend the category now functions as a versatile piece on the grid. The genre can kick off on many corridors, yield a sharp concept for marketing and reels, and over-index with ticket buyers that line up on preview nights and continue through the week two if the offering lands. In the wake of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping telegraphs comfort in that playbook. The year commences with a loaded January lineup, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that carries into holiday-adjacent weekends and into the next week. The gridline also features the greater integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and move wide at the precise moment.

A companion trend is franchise tending across unified worlds and legacy IP. Big banners are not just producing another continuation. They are moving to present story carry-over with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a new vibe or a casting pivot that binds a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the same time, the creative teams behind the most anticipated originals are celebrating practical craft, special makeup and concrete locations. That combination gives 2026 a smart balance of trust and unexpected turns, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight titles that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the center, framing it as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a throwback-friendly angle without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave built on franchise iconography, initial cast looks, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects 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 on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will play up. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick turns to whatever rules the social talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and quick hits that fuses attachment and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a title drop to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele titles are presented as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to take 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, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a in-your-face, prosthetic-heavy approach can feel high-value on a disciplined budget. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror rush that pushes international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a bankable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is calling a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both loyalists and curious audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign pieces around narrative world, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke format premiums and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by careful craft and linguistic texture, this time focused on werewolf legend. The distributor has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate window into copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a pacing that expands both first-week urgency and trial spikes in the later window. Prime Video combines acquired titles with worldwide entries and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library curation, using timely promos, genre hubs, and curated strips to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, timing horror entries near their drops and framing as events drops with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to purchase select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 arc with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is clean: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated 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. Cineverse has flagged a big-screen first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Plan on 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 as partners, using mini theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their membership.

Known brands versus new stories

By proportion, the 2026 slate bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use marquee value. The question, as ever, is viewer burnout. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is recognizable enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and first-night audiences.

Past-three-year patterns outline the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that held distribution windows did not obstruct a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they rotate perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to link the films through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the upcoming entries telegraph a continued emphasis on hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights atmosphere and fear rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a cold, see here elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-aware reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will live or die on monster aesthetics and world-building, which align with expo activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel essential. Look for trailers that center fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar cadence

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid marquee brands. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Q1 into Q2 prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can connect 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 cycled through PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a peekaboo tease plan and limited plot reveals that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s machine mate escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

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 encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss scramble to survive on a remote island as the hierarchy turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s material craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting story that plays with the panic of a child’s inconsistent impressions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that pokes at current genre trends and true crime fervors. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll 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 surges, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family bound to lingering terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: pending. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: active. 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 primal menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why this year, why now

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that paused or reshuffled in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and compressed 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 beaten straight-to-streaming releases. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 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 set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, optimized footprints, 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 surface detail, acoustics, and visuals 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand equity where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.