Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primeval horror, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on top streamers

This bone-chilling occult thriller from writer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an prehistoric evil when passersby become conduits in a devilish trial. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving tale of perseverance and prehistoric entity that will redefine scare flicks this cool-weather season. Guided by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and shadowy suspense flick follows five characters who arise ensnared in a isolated structure under the hostile power of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a biblical-era religious nightmare. Arm yourself to be enthralled by a theatrical venture that merges soul-chilling terror with biblical origins, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a classic concept in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is subverted when the demons no longer originate beyond the self, but rather internally. This symbolizes the most terrifying dimension of each of them. The result is a psychologically brutal moral showdown where the emotions becomes a merciless struggle between divinity and wickedness.


In a isolated backcountry, five characters find themselves stuck under the malevolent dominion and possession of a secretive figure. As the characters becomes paralyzed to combat her power, stranded and followed by spirits unnamable, they are thrust to stand before their emotional phantoms while the timeline unceasingly winds toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease grows and partnerships crack, compelling each participant to examine their self and the philosophy of liberty itself. The consequences rise with every breath, delivering a scare-fueled ride that intertwines spiritual fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to explore deep fear, an power rooted in antiquity, manifesting in inner turmoil, and highlighting a spirit that questions who we are when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra required summoning something outside normal anguish. She is innocent until the evil takes hold, and that shift is terrifying because it is so private.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for public screening beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving users in all regions can enjoy this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its initial teaser, which has racked up over notable views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, presenting the nightmare to scare fans abroad.


Mark your calendar for this visceral journey into fear. Confront *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to face these haunting secrets about mankind.


For cast commentary, production news, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across social media and visit the official movie site.





Contemporary horror’s Turning Point: 2025 for genre fans stateside slate interlaces ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, plus series shake-ups

From last-stand terror infused with near-Eastern lore and extending to installment follow-ups and focused festival visions, 2025 looks like the richest plus tactically planned year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. studio powerhouses set cornerstones using marquee IP, while subscription platforms prime the fall with fresh voices in concert with primordial unease. Across the art-house lane, horror’s indie wing is catching the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are intentional, and 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with an audacious swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. targeting mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

By late summer, Warner’s pipeline drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 follows. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson returns, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retrograde shiver, trauma as text, and a cold supernatural calculus. This run ups the stakes, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It arrives in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a sealed box body horror arc fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No IP hangover. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

What to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
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 does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror resurges
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theaters are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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 battle for oxygen. 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. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

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. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The 2026 genre season: next chapters, universe starters, alongside A stacked Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek The upcoming scare year stacks in short order with a January glut, and then extends through the summer months, and deep into the festive period, marrying brand equity, original angles, and strategic counterplay. Studios with streamers are relying on smart costs, cinema-first plans, and viral-minded pushes that position genre titles into national conversation.

The landscape of horror in 2026

This space has proven to be the steady lever in annual schedules, a vertical that can scale when it lands and still hedge the floor when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to decision-makers that efficiently budgeted chillers can dominate the national conversation, 2024 maintained heat with visionary-driven titles and sleeper breakouts. The run translated to 2025, where returns and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is a market for varied styles, from sequel tracks to director-led originals that play globally. The upshot for 2026 is a run that reads highly synchronized across players, with defined corridors, a equilibrium of known properties and fresh ideas, and a re-energized attention on exhibition windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium home window and platforms.

Planners observe the genre now performs as a schedule utility on the calendar. The genre can bow on open real estate, yield a simple premise for previews and TikTok spots, and over-index with ticket buyers that lean in on opening previews and return through the second weekend if the offering connects. Emerging from a work stoppage lag, the 2026 layout signals comfort in that approach. The year starts with a stacked January stretch, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a autumn push that runs into Halloween and past the holiday. The arrangement also includes the stronger partnership of specialized labels and digital platforms that can launch in limited release, ignite recommendations, and expand at the inflection point.

A parallel macro theme is brand curation across brand ecosystems and classic IP. Big banners are not just mounting another return. They are setting up ongoing narrative with a heightened moment, whether that is a title presentation that conveys a recalibrated tone or a lead change that anchors a new entry to a vintage era. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are doubling down on on-set craft, makeup and prosthetics and place-driven backdrops. That combination offers the 2026 slate a strong blend of brand comfort and discovery, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile bets that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, marketing it as both a lineage transfer and a back-to-basics character-centered film. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the narrative stance hints at a legacy-leaning approach without replaying the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive stacked with brand visuals, initial cast looks, and a tiered teaser plan slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a summer alternative, this one will generate wide appeal through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick pivots to whatever rules the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is simple, heartbroken, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an machine companion that evolves into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to replay eerie street stunts and short-form creative that threads affection and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an event moment closer to the first look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His projects are presented as director events, with a concept-forward tease and a next wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date opens a lane to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has made clear that a in-your-face, practical-effects forward style can feel premium on a disciplined budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror charge that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s this contact form horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio mounts two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is marketing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both fans and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around universe detail, and monster craft, elements that can boost premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on historical precision and period speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is navigate to this website enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ladder that enhances both initial urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video balances licensed content with global pickups and limited runs in theaters when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library curation, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on overall cume. Netflix keeps flexible about internal projects and festival additions, scheduling horror entries near their drops and staging as events premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and fast windowing that drives paid trials from buzz. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to invest in select projects with prestige directors or A-list packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for monthly engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is curating a 2026 arc 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 clean: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, upgraded for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday slot to expand. That positioning has helped for prestige 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 tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception drives. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using targeted theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By count, the 2026 slate favors the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is staleness. The standing approach is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-flavored turn from a fresh helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the team and cast is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps outline the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that observed windows did not deter a day-date move from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, director-craft horror hit big in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without pause points.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films suggest a continued turn toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that spotlights creep and texture rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft spotlights before rolling out a tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta inflection that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which are ideal for con floor moments and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel compelling. Look for trailers that accent precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

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 atmospheric change-up amid marquee brands. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the variety of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late Q1 and spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August and September into October leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a pre-October slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited disclosures that trade in concept over detail.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can win the holiday when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. 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 widowed man’s algorithmic partner grows into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: gothic-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 demanding boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the pecking order inverts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to nightmare, grounded in Cronin’s practical effects and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting narrative that manipulates the dread of a child’s unreliable read. Rating: TBA. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A parody return that pokes at today’s horror trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: pending. 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 ignites, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family tethered to old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A new start designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-core horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 era-faithful speech and elemental fear. Rating: TBA. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three pragmatic forces organize this lineup. First, production that eased or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate repeatable beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the efficient 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 news 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first quiet 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 compound over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient screen counts, 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 grain, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.