Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes mythic darkness, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

A bone-chilling occult fear-driven tale from narrative craftsman / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an archaic fear when unrelated individuals become victims in a satanic maze. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of continuance and archaic horror that will reshape the fear genre this harvest season. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and cinematic tale follows five figures who awaken imprisoned in a isolated house under the sinister manipulation of Kyra, a troubled woman occupied by a two-thousand-year-old holy text monster. Steel yourself to be absorbed by a filmic ride that blends bodily fright with timeless legends, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a long-standing motif in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is twisted when the beings no longer come outside their bodies, but rather through their own souls. This portrays the darkest side of the protagonists. The result is a relentless cognitive warzone where the conflict becomes a perpetual battle between divinity and wickedness.


In a barren backcountry, five teens find themselves cornered under the fiendish influence and inhabitation of a obscure entity. As the group becomes vulnerable to resist her will, isolated and preyed upon by forces unimaginable, they are made to deal with their emotional phantoms while the seconds unceasingly counts down toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear grows and friendships break, urging each participant to scrutinize their identity and the nature of free will itself. The consequences surge with every minute, delivering a paranormal ride that blends paranormal dread with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to channel primal fear, an entity before modern man, filtering through fragile psyche, and navigating a curse that dismantles free will when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra called for internalizing something far beyond human desperation. She is in denial until the spirit seizes her, and that change is deeply unsettling because it is so intimate.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for streaming beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving customers internationally can survive this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has seen over strong viewer count.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, making the film to a global viewership.


Make sure to see this life-altering descent into hell. Explore *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these fearful discoveries about free will.


For sneak peeks, production news, and news straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s major pivot: 2025 in focus U.S. Slate interlaces myth-forward possession, underground frights, paired with returning-series thunder

Kicking off with pressure-cooker survival tales drawn from biblical myth all the way to brand-name continuations together with focused festival visions, 2025 is shaping up as the most stratified plus calculated campaign year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. leading studios bookend the months through proven series, even as streaming platforms stack the fall with discovery plays together with ancient terrors. At the same time, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the afterglow of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and now, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are precise, as a result 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

The top end is active. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner opens the year with a risk-forward move: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. dated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Steered by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

By late summer, Warner Bros. Pictures delivers the closing chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: throwback unease, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It hits in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

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

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of 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. It is canny scheduling. No bloated canon. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped 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.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror ascends again
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 genre slate: next chapters, universe starters, alongside A busy Calendar Built For chills

Dek: The brand-new scare cycle builds from the jump with a January logjam, after that runs through the summer months, and pushing into the holiday frame, balancing marquee clout, new voices, and smart offsets. Studios and streamers are doubling down on smart costs, box-office-first windows, and viral-minded pushes that pivot these offerings into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror marketplace has emerged as the bankable tool in studio lineups, a corner that can grow when it breaks through and still cushion the drag when it misses. After 2023 demonstrated to greenlighters that lean-budget pictures can steer social chatter, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The energy carried into 2025, where resurrections and filmmaker-prestige bets confirmed there is a market for varied styles, from franchise continuations to original features that play globally. The upshot for 2026 is a schedule that is strikingly coherent across the market, with mapped-out bands, a spread of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a reinvigorated focus on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and platforms.

Schedulers say the category now works like a fill-in ace on the calendar. The genre can launch on many corridors, provide a clear pitch for marketing and TikTok spots, and punch above weight with moviegoers that come out on Thursday nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the feature works. After a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration exhibits faith in that approach. The year starts with a heavy January block, then primes spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while holding room for a fall cadence that carries into Halloween and into post-Halloween. The calendar also features the deeper integration of specialty arms and streamers that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and scale up at the optimal moment.

An added macro current is IP cultivation across brand ecosystems and storied titles. Studio teams are not just turning out another sequel. They are looking to package ongoing narrative with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that flags a new vibe or a lead change that connects a next film to a initial period. At the concurrently, the directors behind the top original plays are embracing real-world builds, physical gags and place-driven backdrops. That convergence delivers the 2026 slate a robust balance of brand comfort and discovery, which is what works overseas.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount establishes early momentum with two prominent moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the lead, angling it as both a legacy handover and a return-to-roots character-centered film. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the narrative stance hints at a legacy-leaning approach without recycling the last two entries’ family thread. Expect a marketing push centered on signature symbols, character-first teases, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via 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 set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a summer contrast play, this one will build mainstream recognition through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever owns the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three specific strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is tight, soulful, and easily pitched: a grieving man brings home an intelligent companion that shifts into a fatal companion. The date sets it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back creepy live activations and quick hits that interlaces romance and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a official title to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are framed as director events, with a teaser that reveals little and a next wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween runway affords Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, hands-on effects approach can feel big on a moderate cost. Look for a blood-and-grime summer horror blast that leans into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio deploys two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is describing 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 sharper mandate to serve both devotees and general audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign pieces around narrative world, and creature effects, elements that can amplify premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on textural authenticity and language, this time circling werewolf lore. The specialty arm has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is positive.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s releases land on copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a structure that amplifies both FOMO and sign-up momentum in the tail. Prime Video stitches together outside acquisitions with international acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data signals it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in archive usage, using seasonal hubs, holiday hubs, and handpicked rows to stretch the tail on lifetime take. Netflix plays opportunist about own-slate titles and festival buys, finalizing horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops premieres with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a two-step of targeted cinema placements and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 slate with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is uncomplicated: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern sound and cinematography. 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 indicated a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas corridor to move out. That positioning has shown results for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception allows. Look for 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 as a pair, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By count, 2026 leans in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness marquee value. The potential drawback, as ever, is audience fatigue. The operating solution is to market each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French sensibility from a rising filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island-set survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the deal build is steady enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years outline the model. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a day-date try from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror hit big in premium large format. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved see here infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot in tandem, creates space for marketing to link the films through character arcs and themes and to keep assets alive without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind the 2026 entries forecast a continued turn toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that elevates unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft features before rolling out a mood teaser that withholds plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta recalibration that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature design and production design, which favor convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that spotlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid headline IP. 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 thick, but the tone spread creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sustains.

Winter into spring build the summer base. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late summer into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a pre-October slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited previews that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a altering 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 battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the hierarchy inverts and unease intensifies. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting setup that leverages the fright of a child’s mercurial point of view. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-financed and A-list fronted ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody return that targets in-vogue horror tropes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new family tethered to ancient dread. Rating: to be announced. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-first horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBD. Production: continuing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces shape this lineup. First, production that slowed or recalendared in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, freeing space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will trade weekends across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 disciplined-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 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, disciplined footprints, 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 visual texture, sound field, and image-making 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 Robust 2026 On Deck

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, guard the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.