Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing October 2025 on premium platforms

A terrifying ghostly scare-fest from narrative craftsman / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic horror when foreigners become instruments in a satanic ritual. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching portrayal of continuance and old world terror that will reshape horror this cool-weather season. Realized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and tone-heavy fearfest follows five teens who emerge confined in a isolated shelter under the aggressive rule of Kyra, a tormented girl controlled by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Brace yourself to be shaken by a big screen event that integrates deep-seated panic with legendary tales, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a historical foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is turned on its head when the demons no longer arise from external sources, but rather from their psyche. This illustrates the most sinister version of the protagonists. The result is a harrowing internal warfare where the intensity becomes a relentless battle between virtue and vice.


In a bleak no-man's-land, five campers find themselves confined under the unholy sway and overtake of a unidentified being. As the group becomes incapable to deny her manipulation, isolated and preyed upon by forces mind-shattering, they are pushed to deal with their core terrors while the doomsday meter brutally pushes forward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion grows and associations shatter, requiring each survivor to rethink their identity and the concept of self-determination itself. The intensity climb with every fleeting time, delivering a frightening tale that weaves together demonic fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to tap into pure dread, an curse that predates humanity, manifesting in our weaknesses, and questioning a evil that peels away humanity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is ignorant until the curse activates, and that conversion is terrifying because it is so visceral.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving watchers around the globe can survive this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over a viral response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, delivering the story to a worldwide audience.


Mark your calendar for this gripping journey into fear. Experience *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to see these terrifying truths about human nature.


For exclusive trailers, behind-the-scenes content, and social posts from the story's source, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your favorite networks and visit the movie portal.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 across markets U.S. calendar melds biblical-possession ideas, signature indie scares, alongside returning-series thunder

Across last-stand terror infused with old testament echoes as well as returning series alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the most variegated in tandem with blueprinted year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, concurrently digital services prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs plus ancestral chills. On another front, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the momentum from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween stays the prime week, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A fat September–October lane is customary now, notably this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s schedule kicks off the frame with a headline swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Slated for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

By late summer, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Granted the structure is classic, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re teams, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It drops in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Offerings: No Budget, No Problem

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the quieter side is Together, a close quarters body horror study fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga starring Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

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 looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are more runway than museum.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

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

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trend Lines

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

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

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

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Projection: Autumn density and winter pivot

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The oncoming genre year to come: follow-ups, new stories, plus A Crowded Calendar aimed at screams

Dek: The fresh scare year builds at the outset with a January traffic jam, and then flows through June and July, and deep into the holiday stretch, marrying brand heft, inventive spins, and smart release strategy. The major players are leaning into smart costs, theater-first strategies, and viral-minded pushes that frame these films into national conversation.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the predictable swing in studio lineups, a genre that can grow when it resonates and still protect the drawdown when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for leaders that disciplined-budget shockers can command the national conversation, the following year extended the rally with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The carry carried into the 2025 frame, where reboots and prestige plays made clear there is capacity for a spectrum, from series extensions to director-led originals that perform internationally. The result for the 2026 slate is a slate that shows rare alignment across the market, with purposeful groupings, a spread of familiar brands and untested plays, and a tightened attention on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Schedulers say the horror lane now behaves like a wildcard on the rollout map. Horror can debut on a wide range of weekends, create a easy sell for ad units and vertical videos, and outpace with fans that line up on Thursday nights and maintain momentum through the second weekend if the feature lands. Emerging from a production delay era, the 2026 layout shows certainty in that engine. The slate kicks off with a heavy January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while holding room for a fall run that extends to Halloween and into the next week. The arrangement also features the expanded integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can grow from platform, spark evangelism, and scale up at the inflection point.

A second macro trend is franchise tending across linked properties and established properties. The players are not just pushing another entry. They are moving to present brand continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a new tone or a casting move that reconnects a upcoming film to a early run. At the very same time, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are favoring practical craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That blend offers the 2026 slate a strong blend of trust and unexpected turns, which is how the films export.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount leads early with two headline moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the center, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the story approach hints at a heritage-honoring bent without covering again the last two entries’ sibling arc. Look for a marketing run anchored in iconic art, first images of characters, and a tiered teaser plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format allowing quick updates to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three clear releases. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that grows into a killer companion. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise creepy live activations and snackable content that interlaces romance and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a name unveil to become an headline beat closer to the first trailer. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are marketed as filmmaker events, with a minimalist tease and a subsequent trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date affords Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has established that a in-your-face, practical-first method can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror hit that spotlights global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio sets two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, holding a proven supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is marketing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both franchise faithful and first-timers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build marketing units around environmental design, and monster design, elements that can amplify premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror centered on minute detail and archaic language, this time engaging werewolf myth. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Digital strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a sequence that maximizes both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video will mix licensed films with worldwide entries and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library engagement, using in-app campaigns, October hubs, and editorial rows to maximize the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about first-party entries and festival buys, scheduling horror entries closer to launch and staging as events arrivals with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a situational basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with accomplished filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for sustained usage when the genre conversation swells.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 pipeline with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clear: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas corridor to widen. That positioning has paid off for prestige horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using precision theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchises versus originals

By share, 2026 is weighted toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use household recognition. The challenge, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is emphasizing relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a buzzed-about director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the assembly is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Recent comps frame the template. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that preserved streaming windows did not block a day-date try from succeeding when the brand was powerful. In 2024, director-craft horror rose in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, permits marketing to relate entries through relationships and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The craft conversations behind the 2026 entries point to a continued shift toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that centers unease and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft features before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta refresh that centers an original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature design and production design, which match well with expo activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that explode in larger rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is full. 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 moody palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month winds down 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 legit, but the mix of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring prime the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that great post to read once was known for genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can hit 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 premium screens.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and holiday gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s algorithmic partner grows into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. 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 prickly boss try to survive on a uninhabited island as the chain of command reverses and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to horror, grounded in Cronin’s practical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 household haunting scenario that channels the fear through a youngster’s unreliable perspective. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. 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 involved creatively again. Logline: {A parody return that pokes at in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime crazes. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new clan anchored to returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on pure survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: pending. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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-precise speech and ancient menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces organize this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify turnkey scare beats from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The sleeper-hit 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sound field, 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 Shapes Up Strong

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shudders sell the seats.