Mythic Terror Ascends in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling chiller, debuting Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

A frightening spiritual thriller from author / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an primordial nightmare when newcomers become puppets in a fiendish trial. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful account of resistance and mythic evil that will reshape the fear genre this season. Created by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and atmospheric story follows five unacquainted souls who awaken ensnared in a wilderness-bound wooden structure under the sinister influence of Kyra, a female presence overtaken by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Be warned to be drawn in by a motion picture event that fuses visceral dread with mystical narratives, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a classic fixture in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is reversed when the entities no longer manifest from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This portrays the most primal aspect of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat mind game where the conflict becomes a merciless battle between good and evil.


In a remote wild, five campers find themselves stuck under the dark rule and inhabitation of a unknown figure. As the victims becomes incapable to evade her influence, marooned and chased by terrors ungraspable, they are compelled to battle their deepest fears while the time mercilessly winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and bonds crack, compelling each figure to rethink their true nature and the notion of liberty itself. The pressure surge with every short lapse, delivering a paranormal ride that merges unearthly horror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to channel deep fear, an evil that existed before mankind, influencing our fears, and questioning a spirit that tests the soul when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra was about accessing something far beyond human desperation. She is insensitive until the entity awakens, and that change is bone-chilling because it is so deep.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that customers worldwide can watch this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has pulled in over massive response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, extending the thrill to lovers of terror across nations.


Do not miss this unforgettable descent into darkness. Enter *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to experience these haunting secrets about the soul.


For exclusive trailers, making-of footage, and promotions straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie portal.





Today’s horror watershed moment: the 2025 season American release plan Mixes archetypal-possession themes, independent shockers, set against returning-series thunder

Spanning pressure-cooker survival tales saturated with primordial scripture to series comebacks plus acutely observed indies, 2025 appears poised to be horror’s most layered paired with strategic year of the last decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Major studios hold down the year through proven series, at the same time platform operators pack the fall with new perspectives in concert with legend-coded dread. In the indie lane, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is carried on the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, but this year, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, accordingly 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a modernized Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Booked into mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner sets loose the finale from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This run ups the stakes, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It bows in December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a two hander body horror spiral fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale starring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 looks like sharp programming. No heavy handed lore. No series drag. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Long Running Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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

Emerging Currents

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The next genre lineup: brand plays, new stories, And A packed Calendar tailored for nightmares

Dek: The current genre season packs early with a January wave, thereafter extends through the mid-year, and running into the year-end corridor, combining IP strength, fresh ideas, and well-timed counterprogramming. Studios with streamers are committing to responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that transform these releases into water-cooler talk.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror has turned into the dependable play in studio calendars, a space that can spike when it catches and still buffer the exposure when it falls short. After the 2023 year reassured buyers that disciplined-budget pictures can shape the national conversation, the following year extended the rally with signature-voice projects and stealth successes. The tailwind pushed into 2025, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers proved there is demand for multiple flavors, from legacy continuations to standalone ideas that translate worldwide. The upshot for 2026 is a grid that reads highly synchronized across studios, with clear date clusters, a pairing of familiar brands and fresh ideas, and a re-energized strategy on big-screen windows that power the aftermarket on premium on-demand and home streaming.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now operates like a flex slot on the programming map. Horror can open on nearly any frame, provide a tight logline for ad units and short-form placements, and punch above weight with moviegoers that come out on preview nights and maintain momentum through the subsequent weekend if the title works. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 mapping signals certainty in that engine. The slate commences with a heavy January schedule, then targets spring into early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a fall corridor that flows toward Halloween and into post-Halloween. The program also illustrates the deeper integration of specialty arms and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and scale up at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across brand ecosystems and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just mounting another next film. They are moving to present brand continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title design that signals a new vibe or a lead change that connects a latest entry to a first wave. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into real-world builds, physical gags and specific settings. That mix gives 2026 a robust balance of brand comfort and freshness, which is how the films export.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount leads early with two prominent entries that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the core, signaling it as both a passing of the torch and a origin-leaning character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the narrative stance points to a fan-service aware approach without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave leaning on franchise iconography, character spotlights, and a staggered trailer plan hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will hunt wide buzz through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick switches to whatever shapes the conversation that spring.

Universal has three distinct projects. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tight, somber, and easily pitched: a grieving man implements an intelligent companion that grows into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a busy month, with the marketing arm likely to bring back creepy live activations and quick hits that interweaves attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a final title to become an PR pop closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele projects are sold as event films, with a minimalist tease and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor allows Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has consistently shown that a in-your-face, in-camera leaning aesthetic can feel elevated on a efficient spend. Expect a grime-caked summer horror jolt that centers overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio rolls out two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is positioning as a reset 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 well-defined brief to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build artifacts around universe detail, and creature design, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on immersive craft and textual fidelity, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles flow to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the tail. Prime Video stitches together licensed titles with global acquisitions and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival buys, timing horror entries near launch and staging as events releases with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a one-two of limited theatrical footprints and prompt platform moves that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before navigate here turning to niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to purchase select projects with acclaimed directors or star-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two brand extensions. 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, reimagined for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to increase reach. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception warrants. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays 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 membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage brand equity. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to brand each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is centering character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is anchored enough to build pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps outline the plan. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not stop a day-and-date experiment from performing when the brand was potent. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot in tandem, provides the means for marketing to interlace chapters through character web and themes and to keep materials circulating without hiatuses.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre point to a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy this content will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that spotlights atmosphere and fear rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which fit with convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel key. Look for trailers that accent hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that explode in larger rooms.

How the year maps out

January is stacked. 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 atmospheric change-up amid big-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the mix of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late Q1 and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps 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 spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the my company big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a late-September window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited disclosures that trade in concept over detail.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can go wider 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 rolling out as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s AI companion becomes something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 remote island as the hierarchy swivels and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to menace, anchored by Cronin’s tactile craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting premise that explores the panic of a child’s inconsistent impressions. Rating: forthcoming. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-supported and star-led supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further opens again, with a fresh family bound to ancient dread. Rating: pending. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on true survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. 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 era-faithful speech and primordial menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three hands-on forces organize this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-sequenced in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will trade weekends across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, 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 rhythm and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is IP strength where it matters, new vision where it lands, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.