Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An haunting unearthly suspense film from author / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an ancient malevolence when foreigners become pawns in a fiendish maze. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing depiction of overcoming and timeless dread that will alter genre cinema this harvest season. Guided by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and gothic suspense flick follows five young adults who come to confined in a unreachable hideaway under the malevolent influence of Kyra, a young woman inhabited by a ancient biblical force. Be prepared to be shaken by a motion picture ride that combines raw fear with mystical narratives, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a long-standing trope in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is inverted when the beings no longer manifest from elsewhere, but rather internally. This depicts the most terrifying aspect of the protagonists. The result is a riveting spiritual tug-of-war where the narrative becomes a unforgiving confrontation between divinity and wickedness.


In a remote no-man's-land, five campers find themselves confined under the ghastly control and control of a haunted person. As the team becomes powerless to deny her influence, isolated and preyed upon by powers inconceivable, they are required to acknowledge their worst nightmares while the final hour coldly winds toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear builds and teams break, demanding each individual to examine their personhood and the nature of personal agency itself. The hazard intensify with every tick, delivering a nightmarish journey that intertwines otherworldly suspense with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to draw upon instinctual horror, an force that predates humanity, emerging via soul-level flaws, and navigating a presence that forces self-examination when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something past sanity. She is unaware until the haunting manifests, and that change is bone-chilling because it is so deep.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for streaming beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring watchers from coast to coast can face this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its intro video, which has pulled in over six-figure audience.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Experience this mind-warping spiral into evil. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to experience these fearful discoveries about the soul.


For director insights, filmmaker commentary, and social posts via the production team, follow @YACMovie across platforms and visit the movie’s homepage.





The horror genre’s sea change: 2025 in focus domestic schedule interlaces old-world possession, signature indie scares, set against legacy-brand quakes

Spanning fight-to-live nightmare stories rooted in primordial scripture and including canon extensions plus surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as the richest plus deliberate year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, simultaneously OTT services pack the fall with discovery plays set against primordial unease. Across the art-house lane, the art-house flank is propelled by the carry of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, hence 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 set the base, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s slate opens the year with a confident swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Booked into mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, Warner’s slate bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

After that, The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma as text, and eerie supernatural logic. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

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

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a two hander body horror spiral led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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.

Trend Lines

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror returns
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Projection: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. 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. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching fear year to come: brand plays, standalone ideas, and also A brimming Calendar geared toward screams

Dek The arriving terror year crowds up front with a January pile-up, subsequently flows through midyear, and continuing into the holidays, balancing brand heft, new voices, and smart alternatives. Studio marketers and platforms are relying on right-sized spends, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that turn genre titles into water-cooler talk.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the sturdy counterweight in programming grids, a corner that can accelerate when it breaks through and still cushion the losses when it falls short. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for strategy teams that efficiently budgeted chillers can drive the discourse, the following year continued the surge with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The carry rolled into 2025, where returns and festival-grade titles demonstrated there is demand for a spectrum, from series extensions to original one-offs that perform internationally. The sum for 2026 is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across the major shops, with intentional bunching, a pairing of legacy names and novel angles, and a reinvigorated eye on exclusive windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on PVOD and digital services.

Schedulers say the genre now behaves like a flex slot on the schedule. Horror can premiere on most weekends, offer a easy sell for spots and vertical videos, and overperform with fans that arrive on previews Thursday and hold through the next pass if the movie lands. In the wake of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration demonstrates certainty in that model. The year commences with a busy January stretch, then primes spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while saving space for a September to October window that pushes into All Hallows period and past the holiday. The gridline also features the greater integration of specialty arms and platforms that can launch in limited release, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the right moment.

A further high-level trend is brand management across shared IP webs and long-running brands. Distribution groups are not just producing another entry. They are moving to present ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a new vibe or a casting pivot that reconnects a upcoming film to a early run. At the meanwhile, the creative leads behind the most buzzed-about originals are celebrating on-set craft, practical gags and concrete locations. That combination produces 2026 a healthy mix of home base and unexpected turns, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount sets the tone early with two headline releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a baton pass and a foundation-forward character-focused installment. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance points to a classic-referencing bent without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push centered on legacy iconography, intro reveals, and a tiered teaser plan slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will hunt large awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format allowing quick adjustments to whatever shapes horror talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man brings home an virtual partner that escalates into a harmful mate. The date lines it up at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s promo team likely to recreate creepy live activations and bite-size content that interweaves intimacy and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title reveal to become an PR pop closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele titles are framed as marquee events, with a concept-forward tease and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The prime October weekend affords Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has demonstrated that a blood-soaked, hands-on effects style can feel high-value on a disciplined budget. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror surge that leans into worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio sets two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a consistent supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is calling a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both devotees and my company new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and practical creature work, elements that can accelerate premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 built on immersive craft and historical speech, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a stair-step that amplifies both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video stitches together catalogue additions with worldwide buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival deals, finalizing horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops releases with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to secure select projects with award winners or headline-cast packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for sustained usage when the genre conversation spikes.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 track with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, reimagined for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a theatrical-first plan for the title, an promising marker for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the autumn stretch.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, curating the rollout 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 filmmaker-first horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Keep an eye 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 jointly, using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The workable fix is to market each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is underscoring character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the bundle is steady enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set frame the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not preclude a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reframe POV and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind this year’s genre suggest a continued lean toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements 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 underscores unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft features before rolling out a tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature work and production design, which favor fan-con activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

January is crowded. 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 somber counterpoint amid larger brand plays. The month concludes 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 credible, but the variety of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late Q1 and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late summer into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited disclosures that lean on concept not plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and card redemption.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s digital partner becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie 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 meet a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: aura-driven 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 demanding boss battle to survive on a lonely island as the power balance shifts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, built on Cronin’s in-camera craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production 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 household haunting tale that routes the horror through a youth’s shifting personal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that riffs on in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fascinations. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 ignites, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further reopens, with a young family anchored to older hauntings. Rating: to be announced. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 time-true diction and elemental menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why this year, why now

Three hands-on forces inform this lineup. First, production that slowed or rearranged in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more measured 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 drops. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four distinct 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 take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

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

The breakout hunt continues in Q1, where 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 work 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. 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sonics, and framing 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 shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand power where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the frights sell the seats.