Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, premiering Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

A spine-tingling metaphysical thriller from dramatist / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primeval fear when unrelated individuals become vehicles in a dark ceremony. Streaming this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish account of endurance and primordial malevolence that will revamp genre cinema this October. Brought to life by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and cinematic screenplay follows five individuals who arise stranded in a isolated house under the aggressive rule of Kyra, a female lead inhabited by a ancient religious nightmare. Be prepared to be gripped by a visual ride that melds bone-deep fear with ancient myths, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a time-honored pillar in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is flipped when the malevolences no longer form externally, but rather inside their minds. This illustrates the malevolent facet of each of them. The result is a relentless mental war where the suspense becomes a relentless conflict between divinity and wickedness.


In a barren natural abyss, five friends find themselves confined under the evil presence and infestation of a uncanny entity. As the team becomes unable to combat her grasp, isolated and chased by entities inconceivable, they are pushed to wrestle with their darkest emotions while the final hour mercilessly pushes forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety grows and bonds collapse, pressuring each character to challenge their essence and the foundation of self-determination itself. The pressure escalate with every beat, delivering a frightening tale that harmonizes demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to explore primitive panic, an force that existed before mankind, manifesting in our weaknesses, and questioning a darkness that forces self-examination when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra asked for exploring something more primal than sorrow. She is blind until the takeover begins, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so visceral.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for public screening beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing watchers globally can engage with this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has seen over massive response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, giving access to the movie to scare fans abroad.


Do not miss this mind-warping ride through nightmares. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to face these dark realities about the human condition.


For film updates, production news, and reveals from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s inflection point: 2025 stateside slate braids together myth-forward possession, festival-born jolts, in parallel with brand-name tremors

Spanning survivor-centric dread inspired by mythic scripture through to installment follow-ups set beside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is coalescing into the most stratified together with precision-timed year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Top studios lay down anchors with familiar IP, while SVOD players flood the fall with fresh voices alongside legend-coded dread. On another front, festival-forward creators is propelled by the tailwinds of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Since Halloween is the prized date, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are exacting, and 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal camp opens the year with a statement play: a reconceived Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer wanes, Warner Bros. Pictures launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. While the template is known, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson resumes command, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: 70s style chill, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This time, the stakes are raised, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, pinning the winter close.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend led by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and helmed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. 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.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is canny scheduling. No bloated mythology. No IP hangover. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Heritage Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

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

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Key Trends

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror swings back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: 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 such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The approaching terror season: entries, universe starters, alongside A busy Calendar calibrated for Scares

Dek The upcoming terror season loads in short order with a January glut, subsequently unfolds through the mid-year, and continuing into the year-end corridor, fusing IP strength, original angles, and data-minded counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and influencer-ready assets that position the slate’s entries into broad-appeal conversations.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The field has emerged as the steady play in release strategies, a pillar that can break out when it connects and still cushion the losses when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year reassured top brass that responsibly budgeted shockers can shape audience talk, 2024 carried the beat with filmmaker-forward plays and sleeper breakouts. The momentum fed into the 2025 frame, where returns and awards-minded projects highlighted there is a lane for several lanes, from series extensions to one-and-done originals that perform internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a programming that is strikingly coherent across studios, with strategic blocks, a blend of household franchises and original hooks, and a re-energized focus on cinema windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium rental and OTT platforms.

Executives say the genre now operates like a flex slot on the release plan. The genre can bow on a wide range of weekends, create a sharp concept for promo reels and TikTok spots, and over-index with audiences that show up on preview nights and stay strong through the next weekend if the movie satisfies. Following a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration shows faith in that dynamic. The year launches with a thick January window, then targets spring into early summer for balance, while saving space for a late-year stretch that pushes into late October and into November. The map also illustrates the greater integration of specialized labels and subscription services that can develop over weeks, stoke social talk, and expand at the proper time.

A further high-level trend is brand management across ongoing universes and legacy IP. The players are not just pushing another continuation. They are working to present story carry-over with a occasion, whether that is a logo package that suggests a recalibrated tone or a lead change that threads a upcoming film to a initial period. At the parallel to that, the creative teams behind the eagerly awaited originals are returning to on-set craft, special makeup and specific settings. That interplay affords 2026 a strong blend of comfort and newness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount sets the tone early with two big-ticket plays that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a legacy handover and a return-to-roots character-centered film. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach points to a heritage-honoring bent without going over the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Plan for a rollout driven by recognizable motifs, character previews, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm targeting 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will feature. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will drive four-quadrant chatter through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick redirects to whatever rules the conversation that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is elegant, tragic, and premise-first: a grieving man adopts an virtual partner that evolves into a murderous partner. The date places it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s promo team likely to echo odd public stunts and short-form creative that fuses affection and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a official title to become an marketing beat closer to the initial promo. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His entries are treated as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that holds back and a second wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween runway affords Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has proven that a raw, makeup-driven aesthetic can feel deluxe on a mid-range budget. Position this as a gore-forward summer horror rush that leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio books two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, holding a proven supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is selling as a reimagined restart 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 clearer mandate to serve both core fans and novices. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build artifacts around mythos, and monster design, elements that can amplify premium booking interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by rigorous craft and period speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. The label has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is strong.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform strategies for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a tiered path that optimizes both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the back half. Prime Video blends catalogue additions with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using prominent placements, October hubs, and collection rows to lengthen the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about first-party entries and festival wins, locking in horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops rollouts with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of targeted cinema placements and prompt platform moves that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with prestige directors or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 track with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is tight: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has served the company well for prestige horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception justifies. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subs.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness cultural cachet. The challenge, as ever, is brand erosion. The practical approach is to position each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is recognizable enough to drive advance ticketing and advance-audience nights.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not hamper a dual release from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium screens. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they shift POV and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to relate entries through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without extended gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The production chatter behind 2026 horror indicate a continued move toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that elevates creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line click site and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and guild coverage before rolling out a tease that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that accent disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in big rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is jammed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid heftier brand moves. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth holds.

Q1 into Q2 stage summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a early fall window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited previews that trade in concept over detail.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card redemption.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s founding notes. 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 loss-struck man’s intelligent companion evolves into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures 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: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 try to survive on a uninhabited island as the chain of command shifts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting tale that manipulates the horror of a child’s inconsistent read. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A parody reboot that pokes at modern genre fads and true crime fixations. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 flares, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a different family snared by old terrors. Rating: pending. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: to be announced. Production: underway. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and ancient menace. Rating: pending. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026, why now

Three grounded forces structure this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or recalendared in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sound, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.