Age-old Terror rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across major platforms

This eerie supernatural thriller from literary architect / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an long-buried nightmare when newcomers become subjects in a diabolical trial. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of resilience and primeval wickedness that will resculpt genre cinema this scare season. Visualized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie cinema piece follows five people who emerge ensnared in a far-off dwelling under the unfriendly power of Kyra, a cursed figure haunted by a biblical-era Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be absorbed by a audio-visual spectacle that merges deep-seated panic with timeless legends, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a enduring theme in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the presences no longer manifest outside their bodies, but rather internally. This symbolizes the darkest version of the cast. The result is a enthralling identity crisis where the emotions becomes a brutal tug-of-war between divinity and wickedness.


In a forsaken natural abyss, five youths find themselves stuck under the sinister force and possession of a unidentified figure. As the victims becomes unresisting to withstand her control, disconnected and targeted by evils unfathomable, they are obligated to stand before their inner demons while the timeline without pause counts down toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust grows and links dissolve, prompting each character to doubt their identity and the structure of liberty itself. The intensity escalate with every fleeting time, delivering a horror experience that marries occult fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dive into instinctual horror, an evil born of forgotten ages, channeling itself through emotional vulnerability, and wrestling with a spirit that peels away humanity when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra called for internalizing something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the demon emerges, and that evolution is deeply unsettling because it is so raw.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for public screening beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing watchers no matter where they are can witness this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Witness this mind-warping fall into madness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to witness these fearful discoveries about existence.


For film updates, filmmaker commentary, and announcements from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursed across entertainment pages and visit youngandcursed.com.





Today’s horror sea change: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar blends ancient-possession motifs, Indie Shockers, plus Franchise Rumbles

Kicking off with grit-forward survival fare drawn from near-Eastern lore to canon extensions plus acutely observed indies, 2025 is shaping up as horror’s most layered as well as tactically planned year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. Top studios bookend the months via recognizable brands, while SVOD players flood the fall with emerging auteurs paired with legend-coded dread. On the festival side, the independent cohort is surfing the echoes of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are exacting, accordingly 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm starts the year with a big gambit: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, the WB camp sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma as text, along with eerie supernatural rules. The stakes escalate here, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, grows the animatronic horror lineup, courting teens and the thirty something base. It lands in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No overweight mythology. No franchise baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. 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. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The oncoming chiller year to come: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, and also A packed Calendar designed for Scares

Dek: The brand-new terror calendar stacks up front with a January cluster, before it extends through the summer months, and deep into the year-end corridor, combining brand heft, new concepts, and data-minded counterprogramming. The big buyers and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that frame genre titles into all-audience topics.

How the genre looks for 2026

This category has established itself as the steady play in programming grids, a lane that can lift when it clicks and still mitigate the drag when it underperforms. After the 2023 year showed decision-makers that responsibly budgeted fright engines can own audience talk, 2024 held pace with buzzy auteur projects and slow-burn breakouts. The trend fed into 2025, where returns and elevated films highlighted there is an opening for different modes, from franchise continuations to one-and-done originals that export nicely. The result for 2026 is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across distributors, with clear date clusters, a equilibrium of brand names and new pitches, and a tightened commitment on exclusive windows that fuel later windows on paid VOD and platforms.

Planners observe the horror lane now functions as a wildcard on the grid. The genre can launch on nearly any frame, generate a clear pitch for promo reels and reels, and lead with viewers that appear on early shows and continue through the second frame if the release delivers. After a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 mapping telegraphs trust in that engine. The year gets underway with a weighty January block, then exploits spring through early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a autumn stretch that connects to the fright window and past Halloween. The program also spotlights the increasing integration of specialty arms and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and go nationwide at the inflection point.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across ongoing universes and long-running brands. Studios are not just pushing another follow-up. They are shaping as lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that ties a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the alongside this, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are prioritizing physical effects work, physical gags and specific settings. That mix delivers the 2026 slate a healthy mix of assurance and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount opens strong with two marquee entries that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a cross-generational handoff and a DNA-forward character study. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a classic-referencing bent without recycling the last two entries’ sibling arc. Watch for a push driven by iconic art, character-first teases, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will spotlight. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek mainstream recognition through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick pivots to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three differentiated bets. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, melancholic, and big-hook: a grieving man implements an machine companion that unfolds into a murderous partner. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to recreate viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that hybridizes companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a public title to become an teaser payoff closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele projects are positioned as marquee events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot gives the studio room to maximize 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has long shown that a raw, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel high-value on a efficient spend. Frame it as a red-band summer horror surge that leans hard into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, continuing a dependable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is framing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both franchise faithful and casuals. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can drive large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror defined by historical precision and period speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus’s team has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is favorable.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform tactics for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a ordering that fortifies both initial urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with worldwide entries and limited runs in theaters when the data signals it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, fright rows, and featured rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix stays nimble about own-slate titles and festival wins, securing horror entries tight to release and eventizing releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that translates talk to trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a situational basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with top-tier auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 corridor with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clear: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, 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. Cineverse has hinted a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for auteur have a peek at these guys horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception justifies. Keep an eye on 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 as a pair, using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their user base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use franchise value. The potential drawback, as ever, is fatigue. The practical approach is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is foregrounding character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-tinted vision from a hot helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the package is familiar enough to build pre-sales and early previews.

Comps from the last three years help explain the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not deter a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, provides the means for marketing to thread films through personae and themes and to keep assets alive without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The shop talk behind the 2026 entries suggest a continued turn toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that emphasizes aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead features and department features before rolling out a initial teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which are ideal for booth activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel necessary. Look for trailers that highlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that explode in larger rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is packed. 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 heftier brand moves. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the palette of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Q1 into Q2 prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late summer into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a opaque tease strategy and limited advance reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s AI companion evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 push to survive on a far-flung island as the chain of command swivels and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s material craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting scenario that threads the dread through a kid’s unreliable internal vantage. Rating: not yet rated. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-grade and A-list fronted supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new clan caught in older hauntings. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-driven horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: active. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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-accurate language and primal menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why this year, why now

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. 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 beaten straight-to-streaming drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage bite-size scare clips from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

There is also the slotting calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will cluster across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where lean-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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, 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 materiality, audio design, and imagery 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, Ready To Roar

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand power where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.