Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites mythic darkness, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, bowing October 2025 across premium platforms

A blood-curdling paranormal horror tale from screenwriter / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an forgotten terror when foreigners become conduits in a cursed struggle. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving narrative of struggle and ancient evil that will transform genre cinema this ghoul season. Created by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and eerie screenplay follows five characters who awaken sealed in a unreachable lodge under the dark rule of Kyra, a mysterious girl inhabited by a prehistoric sacred-era entity. Get ready to be hooked by a cinematic spectacle that fuses visceral dread with arcane tradition, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a historical trope in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is inverted when the beings no longer descend from a different plane, but rather inside them. This depicts the most primal shade of the victims. The result is a riveting identity crisis where the drama becomes a relentless face-off between heaven and hell.


In a bleak no-man's-land, five youths find themselves cornered under the possessive aura and infestation of a secretive figure. As the cast becomes powerless to combat her manipulation, severed and chased by beings impossible to understand, they are cornered to battle their emotional phantoms while the countdown without pause draws closer toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension builds and friendships splinter, coercing each cast member to reconsider their existence and the idea of free will itself. The tension accelerate with every second, delivering a scare-fueled ride that marries unearthly horror with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to tap into pure dread, an entity that existed before mankind, channeling itself through human fragility, and wrestling with a force that erodes the self when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra asked for exploring something past sanity. She is oblivious until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is terrifying because it is so close.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing subscribers from coast to coast can witness this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its initial teaser, which has seen over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, presenting the nightmare to viewers around the world.


Mark your calendar for this visceral descent into darkness. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to witness these unholy truths about existence.


For film updates, special features, and alerts from the cast and crew, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit the official website.





Today’s horror tipping point: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar blends myth-forward possession, Indie Shockers, and brand-name tremors

Spanning fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with near-Eastern lore and extending to canon extensions together with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is coalescing into the most stratified along with calculated campaign year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses set cornerstones using marquee IP, while premium streamers load up the fall with debut heat alongside archetypal fear. On the festival side, independent banners is riding the uplift from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween stays the prime week, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, yet in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, so 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a big gambit: a refreshed Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. set for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Led by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer eases, the Warner lot unveils the final movement of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson re boards, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This run ups the stakes, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It drops in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Firsts: No Budget, No Problem

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Conceived 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No series drag. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

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

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

What to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror retakes ground
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
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Season Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming fear calendar year ahead: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, together with A Crowded Calendar geared toward screams

Dek The upcoming genre cycle builds at the outset with a January logjam, after that rolls through summer corridors, and deep into the festive period, blending legacy muscle, creative pitches, and data-minded counterweight. Studios and streamers are committing to right-sized spends, cinema-first plans, and influencer-ready assets that elevate these pictures into mainstream chatter.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has proven to be the consistent swing in release strategies, a lane that can scale when it catches and still insulate the losses when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year proved to strategy teams that mid-range entries can lead social chatter, the following year maintained heat with filmmaker-forward plays and quiet over-performers. The upswing rolled into 2025, where returns and filmmaker-prestige bets highlighted there is room for different modes, from continued chapters to fresh IP that scale internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a roster that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with defined corridors, a balance of brand names and first-time concepts, and a sharpened commitment on theater exclusivity that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and home platforms.

Insiders argue the category now operates like a utility player on the release plan. The genre can arrive on nearly any frame, create a clear pitch for trailers and platform-native cuts, and outperform with fans that show up on previews Thursday and keep coming through the next weekend if the offering delivers. After a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores conviction in that model. The year kicks off with a weighty January band, then plants flags in spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while keeping space for a fall run that extends to spooky season and into the next week. The gridline also features the tightening integration of boutique distributors and digital platforms that can platform and widen, grow buzz, and grow at the proper time.

A notable top-line trend is series management across interlocking continuities and classic IP. The companies are not just releasing another entry. They are aiming to frame threaded continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a new tone or a talent selection that connects a latest entry to a early run. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the marquee originals are prioritizing hands-on technique, real effects and concrete locations. That interplay affords the 2026 slate a robust balance of assurance and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount opens strong with two centerpiece pushes that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, positioning the film as both a relay and a foundation-forward character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach hints at a nostalgia-forward strategy without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Look for a marketing run rooted in heritage visuals, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will build general-audience talk through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever defines the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is crisp, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that grows into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a thick month, with the Universal machine likely to replay strange in-person beats and brief clips that interlaces love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots 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 dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s releases are sold as auteur events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has established that a tactile, makeup-driven mix can feel prestige on a middle budget. Frame it as a red-band summer horror hit that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is billing as 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 diehards and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build marketing units around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

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 extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and linguistic texture, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s releases flow to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ordering that optimizes both premiere heat and viewer acquisition in the downstream. Prime Video blends licensed titles with global acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog engagement, using timely promos, horror hubs, and curated rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about original films and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops go-lives with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to buy select projects with acclaimed directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 pipeline with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clear: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late-season weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, guiding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to move out. That positioning has paid off for arthouse horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception allows. Be ready 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 in concert, using limited runs to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 skews toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage franchise value. The question, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is centering character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent comps help explain the strategy. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that preserved streaming windows did not foreclose a parallel release from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, art-forward horror surged in premium formats. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they change perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 produced back-to-back, lets marketing to bridge entries through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without long gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The craft rooms behind these films indicate a continued bias toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that spotlights unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and technical spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for fan-con activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is packed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the menu of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Early-year through spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads 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 lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a opaque tease strategy and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces 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 machine mate escalates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. navigate to this website 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 difficult boss work to survive on a remote island as the hierarchy turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 in-home haunting narrative that manipulates the terror of a child’s fragile perspective. Rating: not yet rated. 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 involved creatively again. Logline: {A satirical comeback that needles modern genre fads and true-crime buzz. Rating: TBD. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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: to be announced. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new household anchored to past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 antique diction and raw menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. 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 control a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will line up across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, 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 strike zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound field, and picture 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.

A Promising 2026

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is name recognition where it counts, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the scares sell the seats.