Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up antediluvian malevolence, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An spine-tingling mystic nightmare movie from cinematographer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an archaic dread when foreigners become vehicles in a satanic struggle. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing narrative of overcoming and mythic evil that will revamp scare flicks this harvest season. Produced by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and cinematic fearfest follows five young adults who arise stranded in a wooded dwelling under the ominous manipulation of Kyra, a troubled woman dominated by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Be prepared to be enthralled by a cinematic experience that integrates gut-punch terror with ancestral stories, arriving on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a enduring concept in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is reversed when the monsters no longer arise from elsewhere, but rather inside them. This depicts the grimmest aspect of the players. The result is a intense internal warfare where the plotline becomes a unyielding contest between moral forces.


In a abandoned backcountry, five teens find themselves sealed under the sinister dominion and domination of a enigmatic character. As the team becomes defenseless to deny her curse, marooned and tormented by powers mind-shattering, they are compelled to wrestle with their emotional phantoms while the timeline without pause counts down toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and links disintegrate, forcing each member to question their core and the idea of freedom of choice itself. The stakes mount with every breath, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that harmonizes occult fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to explore raw dread, an force older than civilization itself, embedding itself in human fragility, and exposing a being that erodes the self when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra asked for exploring something unfamiliar to reason. She is blind until the entity awakens, and that change is terrifying because it is so raw.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering subscribers worldwide can engage with this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its release of trailer #1, which has been viewed over strong viewer count.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, spreading the horror to a global viewership.


Make sure to see this unforgettable path of possession. Enter *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to confront these ghostly lessons about the soul.


For cast commentary, extra content, and insider scoops from the creators, follow @YACMovie across platforms and visit our horror hub.





Modern horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 American release plan Mixes biblical-possession ideas, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside tentpole growls

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare grounded in ancient scripture as well as returning series plus pointed art-house angles, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured and carefully orchestrated year of the last decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio majors hold down the year with known properties, concurrently streamers pack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs in concert with primordial unease. On another front, festival-forward creators is surfing the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are exacting, as a result 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium dread reemerges

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal kicks off the frame with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. timed for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer wanes, Warner’s schedule unveils the final movement of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: retrograde shiver, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. This time the stakes climb, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The continuation widens the legend, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, reaching teens and game grownups. It hits in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a room scale body horror descent led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable starring Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, from 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.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror retakes ground
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

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 goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The new scare season: next chapters, Originals, together with A brimming Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek The fresh horror season lines up at the outset with a January logjam, from there spreads through midyear, and running into the late-year period, mixing IP strength, novel approaches, and calculated calendar placement. The big buyers and platforms are embracing mid-range economics, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that turn these films into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This category has solidified as the steady counterweight in annual schedules, a segment that can grow when it catches and still insulate the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year showed strategy teams that mid-range entries can command mainstream conversation, 2024 carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and festival-grade titles confirmed there is an opening for multiple flavors, from ongoing IP entries to fresh IP that scale internationally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a slate that seems notably aligned across the industry, with strategic blocks, a spread of brand names and untested plays, and a re-energized stance on big-screen windows that fuel later windows on premium digital rental and OTT platforms.

Schedulers say the genre now slots in as a fill-in ace on the schedule. Horror can launch on open real estate, furnish a simple premise for ad units and reels, and over-index with patrons that show up on previews Thursday and stay strong through the week two if the entry delivers. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence demonstrates confidence in that model. The year commences with a crowded January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a fall cadence that connects to Halloween and afterwards. The schedule also reflects the ongoing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can launch in limited release, build word of mouth, and widen at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is series management across linked properties and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just pushing another follow-up. They are shaping as story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a cast configuration that anchors a new installment to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the creative leads behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing practical craft, physical gags and vivid settings. That combination hands 2026 a strong blend of home base and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight titles that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a passing of the torch and a return-to-roots character piece. Production is active in Atlanta, and the directional approach conveys a throwback-friendly strategy without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign built on brand visuals, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counter-slot, this one will build general-audience talk through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick turns to whatever leads horror talk that spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is crisp, tragic, and commercial: a grieving man purchases an synthetic partner that escalates into a deadly partner. The date sets it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s marketing likely to echo eerie street stunts and snackable content that interweaves longing and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril useful reference vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a name unveil to become an PR pop closer to the first look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His entries are marketed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a gnarly, physical-effects centered strategy can feel elevated on a moderate cost. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror hit that maximizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio lines up two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, continuing a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is presenting as a clean-slate approach 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 mission to serve both franchise faithful and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around canon, and monster design, elements that can boost premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by historical precision and linguistic texture, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal titles shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that amplifies both premiere heat and subscriber lifts in the post-theatrical. Prime Video blends licensed films with global acquisitions and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and curated rows to lengthen the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, slotting horror entries on shorter runways and turning into events arrivals with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of selective theatrical runs and speedy platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 lane with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded 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 indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday frame to expand. That positioning has shown results for auteur horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception supports. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their audience.

Balance of brands and originals

By volume, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is bringing forward character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is floating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a fresh helmer. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles supply 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, features Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is recognizable enough to drive advance ticketing and first-night audiences.

Past-three-year patterns outline the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not deter a parallel release from performing when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror popped in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they rotate perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances 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, permits marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries foreshadow a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The click site Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft features before rolling out a first look that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature execution and sets, which fit with convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid marquee brands. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the mix of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Winter into spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads 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 light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited plot reveals that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can win the holiday when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s synthetic partner becomes something perilously amorous. 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 try to survive on a remote island as the chain of command upends and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to horror, built on Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting premise that threads the dread through a youth’s uneven inner lens. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-crafted and star-led spirit-world 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 genre lampoon that riffs on today’s horror trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 erupts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a different family snared by past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and primal menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026, why now

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter schedules. 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 premieres. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on social-ready stingers from test screenings, select scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, 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 sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 capitalize on those pockets. 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, sound field, and visual design 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

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is recognizable IP where it plays, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, protect the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.