Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 on global platforms

An frightening supernatural shockfest from screenwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic force when foreigners become victims in a diabolical struggle. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing narrative of living through and old world terror that will remodel scare flicks this season. Realized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric suspense flick follows five strangers who emerge caught in a far-off shack under the malevolent grip of Kyra, a central character haunted by a two-thousand-year-old biblical demon. Anticipate to be ensnared by a visual outing that combines primitive horror with mythic lore, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a recurring foundation in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is challenged when the spirits no longer descend from beyond, but rather inside their minds. This symbolizes the most primal shade of each of them. The result is a bone-chilling identity crisis where the tension becomes a relentless tug-of-war between right and wrong.


In a isolated woodland, five young people find themselves cornered under the ominous force and domination of a shadowy female figure. As the companions becomes unresisting to withstand her command, disconnected and preyed upon by beings unnamable, they are thrust to acknowledge their raw vulnerabilities while the timeline mercilessly draws closer toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension intensifies and friendships erode, driving each survivor to rethink their self and the idea of decision-making itself. The stakes surge with every beat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that merges spiritual fright with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to dig into primal fear, an spirit beyond recorded history, channeling itself through our fears, and confronting a being that forces self-examination when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra required summoning something deeper than fear. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that flip is shocking because it is so close.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be available for public screening beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving subscribers across the world can get immersed in this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its intro video, which has earned over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, delivering the story to international horror buffs.


Witness this mind-warping fall into madness. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to survive these spiritual awakenings about inner darkness.


For behind-the-scenes access, behind-the-scenes content, and press updates from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit our horror hub.





Modern horror’s tipping point: 2025 across markets U.S. rollouts integrates ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, alongside brand-name tremors

Ranging from pressure-cooker survival tales steeped in biblical myth and onward to series comebacks alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 looks like the most variegated along with strategic year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio majors hold down the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously digital services front-load the fall with new perspectives and ancient terrors. On another front, indie storytellers is drafting behind the echoes from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s slate lights the fuse with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. Directed by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. set for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Steered by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures delivers the closing chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Next is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re teams, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: old school creep, trauma as theme, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It hits in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

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

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Shaped and helmed 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 the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a clever angle. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

From Festivals to Market

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.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Heritage Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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

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. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror comes roaring back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Autumn density and winter pivot

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 fright year to come: next chapters, non-franchise titles, paired with A packed Calendar geared toward nightmares

Dek The incoming scare cycle lines up immediately with a January crush, subsequently rolls through June and July, and well into the late-year period, braiding brand equity, new voices, and well-timed counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are relying on efficient budgets, box-office-first windows, and platform-native promos that shape genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has solidified as the consistent play in distribution calendars, a lane that can expand when it lands and still hedge the risk when it does not. After 2023 proved to executives that disciplined-budget chillers can lead the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with buzzy auteur projects and slow-burn breakouts. The carry fed into 2025, where reawakened brands and elevated films signaled there is space for many shades, from series extensions to original features that travel well. The takeaway for 2026 is a grid that looks unusually coordinated across players, with intentional bunching, a spread of marquee IP and original hooks, and a reinvigorated eye on release windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Insiders argue the genre now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can launch on almost any weekend, generate a easy sell for teasers and social clips, and over-index with ticket buyers that line up on preview nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the movie satisfies. Emerging from a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores belief in that setup. The year commences with a loaded January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while making space for a autumn push that connects to late October and into the next week. The program also illustrates the ongoing integration of indie arms and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, spark evangelism, and move wide at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across connected story worlds and heritage properties. Studios are not just releasing another return. They are shaping as ongoing narrative with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that signals a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that links a latest entry to a first wave. At the concurrently, the visionaries behind the most watched originals are returning to practical craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That blend affords 2026 a strong blend of home base and shock, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount fires first with two marquee entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a succession moment and a DNA-forward character piece. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture hints at a roots-evoking treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push driven by heritage visuals, first-look imp source character reveals, and a tiered teaser plan hitting 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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will generate wide appeal through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is straightforward, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man implements an algorithmic mate that turns into a dangerous lover. The date sets it at the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to mirror creepy live activations and bite-size content that interlaces affection and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. The filmmaker’s films are sold as signature events, with a concept-forward tease and a second wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor creates space for Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, physical-effects centered style can feel prestige on a tight budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror blast that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is presenting as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around setting detail, and creature builds, elements that can stoke premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in textural authenticity and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform tactics for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run move to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ordering that optimizes both week-one demand and sign-up spikes in the tail. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with global pickups and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library pulls, using editorial spots, fright rows, and featured rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps flexible about internal projects and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around go-lives with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of focused cinema runs and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to purchase select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for retention when the genre conversation peaks.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 lane with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, modernized for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has paid off for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception allows. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Balance of brands and originals

By proportion, 2026 tips toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on marquee value. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a continental coloration from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an rigorous tone. Source Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the bundle is steady enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent comps outline the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept streaming intact did not deter a dual release from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they angle differently and widen scale. 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 back-to-back plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind the year’s horror hint at a continued emphasis on tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that centers mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft coverage before rolling out a preview that keeps plot minimal, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at practical nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-aware reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature design and production design, which fit with convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that work in PLF.

How the year maps out

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid big-brand pushes. The month buttons 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 stiff, but the tonal variety affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

Q1 into Q2 stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited information drops that favor idea over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s virtual companion turns into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 hard-edged boss scramble to survive on a lonely island as the pecking order swivels and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s practical effects and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that interrogates the fear of a child’s fragile senses. Rating: to be announced. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that riffs on present-day genre chatter and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a unlucky family lashed to old terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A new start designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on pure survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and primordial menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that paused or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on social-ready stingers from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the target range. 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, 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 stack through the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, 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 dimensionality, sound field, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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, keep the curtain closed, and let the scares sell the seats.