Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 across leading streamers

An spine-tingling mystic shockfest from scriptwriter / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an mythic curse when strangers become subjects in a hellish contest. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing portrayal of staying alive and old world terror that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this harvest season. Realized by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and cinematic suspense flick follows five characters who are stirred stranded in a wilderness-bound shack under the hostile control of Kyra, a central character claimed by a time-worn biblical force. Arm yourself to be hooked by a cinematic outing that integrates deep-seated panic with biblical origins, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a enduring motif in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is twisted when the forces no longer appear from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This mirrors the grimmest shade of the victims. The result is a bone-chilling mental war where the conflict becomes a relentless tug-of-war between innocence and sin.


In a haunting landscape, five characters find themselves cornered under the ghastly sway and haunting of a shadowy being. As the group becomes powerless to combat her curse, isolated and targeted by forces unfathomable, they are required to acknowledge their inner demons while the deathwatch mercilessly counts down toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust grows and links erode, pushing each soul to reflect on their essence and the integrity of volition itself. The threat intensify with every tick, delivering a nightmarish journey that combines demonic fright with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dive into deep fear, an force beyond recorded history, embedding itself in psychological breaks, and highlighting a curse that erodes the self when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra demanded embodying something unfamiliar to reason. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that turn is harrowing because it is so internal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audience access beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring customers no matter where they are can watch this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has pulled in over six-figure audience.


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


Witness this visceral spiral into evil. Face *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these chilling revelations about human nature.


For teasers, set experiences, and reveals from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursed across entertainment pages and visit the movie portal.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 across markets U.S. lineup interlaces old-world possession, microbudget gut-punches, alongside returning-series thunder

Across life-or-death fear saturated with near-Eastern lore to brand-name continuations in concert with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated in tandem with deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios are anchoring the year with established lines, concurrently premium streamers crowd the fall with new voices paired with primordial unease. On the independent axis, indie storytellers is drafting behind the backdraft of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are calculated, hence 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: The Return of Prestige Fear

The majors are assertive. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with a headline swing: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. timed for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Though the formula is familiar, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and those signature textures resurface: nostalgic menace, trauma foregrounded, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The next entry deepens the tale, broadens the animatronic terror cast, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It books December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Digital Originals: No Budget, No Problem

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

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a close quarters body horror study with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led 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. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. 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 Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a clever angle. No overweight mythology. No series drag. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

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

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

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

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror reemerges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 terror Year Ahead: Sequels, original films, alongside A jammed Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek: The emerging horror slate loads at the outset with a January pile-up, following that unfolds through peak season, and well into the year-end corridor, braiding series momentum, original angles, and strategic calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are embracing efficient budgets, cinema-first plans, and platform-native promos that pivot these films into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The genre has emerged as the surest release in studio calendars, a corner that can grow when it connects and still hedge the risk when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reassured executives that cost-conscious horror vehicles can drive mainstream conversation, the following year maintained heat with signature-voice projects and surprise hits. The carry rolled into the 2025 frame, where legacy revivals and elevated films demonstrated there is capacity for a variety of tones, from sequel tracks to original one-offs that travel well. The takeaway for 2026 is a run that shows rare alignment across the market, with clear date clusters, a harmony of known properties and new pitches, and a renewed commitment on exhibition windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and SVOD.

Schedulers say the category now serves as a schedule utility on the slate. Horror can debut on nearly any frame, generate a tight logline for promo reels and reels, and outstrip with audiences that respond on Thursday previews and stick through the week two if the movie pays off. Coming out of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence reflects assurance in that equation. The slate kicks off with a loaded January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for contrast, while reserving space for a October build that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The gridline also underscores the tightening integration of indie distributors and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and broaden at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across shared IP webs and veteran brands. Big banners are not just pushing another installment. They are trying to present lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a reframed mood or a casting pivot that links a new entry to a heyday. At the very navigate here same time, the auteurs behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That pairing affords 2026 a confident blend of familiarity and shock, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate plays that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning character-centered film. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative posture points to a classic-referencing mode without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on recognizable motifs, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also revives 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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will emphasize. As a summer alternative, this one will go after large awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick adjustments to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, sorrow-tinged, and big-hook: a grieving man activates an synthetic partner that mutates into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s team likely to renew uncanny live moments and short-form creative that interweaves attachment and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under temporary 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 preserves a title drop to become an event moment closer to the first trailer. The timing offers Universal 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 dominated before. Peele titles are branded as auteur events, with a concept-forward tease and a second trailer wave that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel deluxe on a efficient spend. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror rush that centers foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio mounts two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, carrying a trusty supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is framing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both players and casuals. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around lore, and monster craft, elements that can accelerate deluxe auditorium demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on immersive craft and period speech, this time circling werewolf lore. The label has already locked the day for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform plans for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a stair-step that boosts both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the back half. Prime Video blends acquired titles with global acquisitions and select theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library curation, using timely promos, genre hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival buys, slotting horror entries tight to release and turning into events rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a paired of precision releases and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has signaled readiness to invest in select projects click site with award winners or headline-cast packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 pipeline 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 no-nonsense: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, recalibrated 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. Cineverse has signaled a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to open out. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception warrants. Watch 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 in concert, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By proportion, 2026 leans toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness franchise value. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to position each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is emphasizing character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is promising a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-inflected take from a ascendant talent. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature navigate to this website mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the bundle is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and early previews.

Comparable trends from recent years illuminate the plan. In 2023, a theater-first model that maintained windows did not hamper a day-date move from hitting when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel new when they shift POV and widen scale. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long breaks.

Production craft signals

The craft conversations behind 2026 horror indicate a continued tilt toward tactile, location-specific 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 wrapped production and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and guild coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster work and world-building, which align with convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that center precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that explode in larger rooms.

Release calendar overview

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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the menu of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Early-year through spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited previews that favor idea over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

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 challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s synthetic partner escalates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shimmering 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 hard-edged boss push to survive on a uninhabited island as the power dynamic shifts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, rooted in Cronin’s tactile craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 in-home haunting scenario that plays with the dread of a child’s mercurial impressions. Rating: rating pending. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed and celebrity-led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that riffs on today’s horror trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family snared by older hauntings. Rating: TBD. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: underway. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: pending. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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

Why the moment is 2026

Three hands-on forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked 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 leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work repeatable beats from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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

The sleeper chase continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing 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 bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sound, and cinematography 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shudders sell the seats.