Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a chilling thriller, debuting Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

An bone-chilling ghostly scare-fest from dramatist / director Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an age-old force when unfamiliar people become victims in a dark conflict. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of continuance and forgotten curse that will alter the horror genre this spooky time. Produced by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and gothic feature follows five teens who wake up caught in a isolated wooden structure under the unfriendly dominion of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a biblical-era sacrosanct terror. Brace yourself to be hooked by a visual ride that fuses instinctive fear with ancient myths, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a enduring narrative in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reimagined when the malevolences no longer develop from elsewhere, but rather within themselves. This depicts the most terrifying part of the group. The result is a relentless psychological battle where the intensity becomes a merciless contest between right and wrong.


In a barren forest, five souls find themselves stuck under the fiendish control and overtake of a mysterious spirit. As the youths becomes vulnerable to oppose her command, disconnected and preyed upon by entities ungraspable, they are driven to endure their emotional phantoms while the countdown without pity moves toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and bonds disintegrate, pressuring each protagonist to doubt their being and the foundation of volition itself. The threat mount with every short lapse, delivering a frightening tale that intertwines otherworldly suspense with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to explore core terror, an spirit that predates humanity, channeling itself through soul-level flaws, and examining a force that challenges autonomy when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant evoking something darker than pain. She is unseeing until the invasion happens, and that transition is gut-wrenching because it is so unshielded.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring fans from coast to coast can enjoy this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its original clip, which has pulled in over 100,000 views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, offering the tale to scare fans abroad.


Do not miss this haunted ride through nightmares. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to see these fearful discoveries about our species.


For director insights, set experiences, and press updates from the story's source, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit our spooky domain.





Horror’s major pivot: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts melds ancient-possession motifs, indie terrors, stacked beside franchise surges

Spanning survival horror drawn from mythic scripture all the way to returning series as well as cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 stands to become the most complex together with deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. studio powerhouses plant stakes across the year with familiar IP, concurrently subscription platforms load up the fall with first-wave breakthroughs and primordial unease. On the festival side, the artisan tier is riding the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Since Halloween is the prized date, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with a marquee bet: a reimagined Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. From director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, the WB camp bows the concluding entry from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson re teams, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma centered writing, with spooky supernatural reasoning. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, speaking to teens and older millennials. It posts in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Offerings: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story led by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. 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. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No IP hangover. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

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

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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

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

Streamers grow fangs
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Near Term Outlook: Fall stack and winter swing card

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

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 plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The 2026 terror release year: continuations, Originals, together with A Crowded Calendar tailored for jolts

Dek The emerging terror cycle loads from day one with a January bottleneck, following that spreads through summer corridors, and continuing into the winter holidays, braiding name recognition, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. The major players are betting on tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that frame these pictures into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror momentum into 2026

This category has turned into the consistent lever in studio lineups, a space that can expand when it performs and still buffer the downside when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year demonstrated to buyers that mid-range entries can lead social chatter, the following year maintained heat with filmmaker-forward plays and quiet over-performers. The upswing fed into 2025, where reboots and festival-grade titles proved there is demand for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to one-and-done originals that travel well. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across companies, with defined corridors, a mix of brand names and first-time concepts, and a sharpened commitment on cinema windows that fuel later windows on paid VOD and streaming.

Distribution heads claim the genre now performs as a versatile piece on the calendar. Horror can roll out on a wide range of weekends, offer a easy sell for previews and platform-native cuts, and outperform with fans that show up on opening previews and maintain momentum through the week two if the entry fires. Following a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 pattern reflects belief in that logic. The calendar gets underway with a loaded January run, then uses spring and early summer for counterweight, while making space for a October build that pushes into spooky season and into the next week. The gridline also features the tightening integration of indie arms and SVOD players that can launch in limited release, build word of mouth, and roll out at the precise moment.

A parallel macro theme is brand management across shared IP webs and classic IP. Studios are not just rolling another follow-up. They are shaping as lineage with a heightened moment, whether that is a graphic identity that broadcasts a new tone or a star attachment that ties a new installment to a initial period. At the same time, the creative teams behind the high-profile originals are embracing physical effects work, practical gags and concrete locations. That combination gives the 2026 slate a healthy mix of comfort and surprise, which is how the genre sells abroad.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent projects that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the lead, marketing it as both a legacy handover and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a legacy-leaning campaign without looping the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive anchored in brand visuals, character-first teases, and a trailer cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through 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 selling point the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will drive wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever shapes the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that shifts into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise uncanny live moments and brief clips that interlaces love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are positioned as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a follow-up trailer set that signal tone without plot the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor offers Universal room to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has proven that a tactile, in-camera leaning mix can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a red-band summer horror hit that emphasizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio deploys two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is selling as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both longtime followers and novices. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and historical speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is strong.

Digital platform strategies

Digital strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre entries feed copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that fortifies both FOMO and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video pairs outside acquisitions with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu work their edges in back-catalog play, using seasonal hubs, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix films and festival grabs, slotting horror entries near their drops and turning into events arrivals with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a staged of tailored theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a curated basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with acclaimed directors or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 pipeline with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is uncomplicated: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, modernized for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a big-screen first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the autumn stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has helped for director-led genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using boutique theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Series vs standalone

By count, 2026 leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on name recognition. The caveat, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to package each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is emphasizing character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-tinted vision from a hot helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and visionary-led titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the cast-creatives package is recognizable enough to generate pre-sales and first-night audiences.

The last three-year set illuminate the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept clean windows did not obstruct a day-and-date experiment from succeeding when the brand was compelling. In 2024, art-forward horror hit big in premium formats. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and scale the storytelling. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, creates space for marketing to interlace chapters through relationships and themes and to sustain campaign assets without lulls.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft conversations behind this year’s genre forecast a continued lean toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that highlights aura and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster realization and design, which play well in convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that emphasize razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar cadence

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 brooding contrast amid heavier IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Early-year through spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now backs 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 clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a opaque tease strategy and limited disclosures that prioritize concept over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s virtual companion evolves into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss fight to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic upends and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to fright, built on Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that filters its scares through a youngster’s shifting subjective view. Rating: TBA. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A comic send-up that skewers hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal More about the author counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a different family bound to lingering terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-driven horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: to be announced. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and elemental menace. Rating: pending. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026, why now

Three hands-on forces organize this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, managed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will share space across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where 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 maximize those pockets. 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, aural design, and image-making 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, fresh vision where it counts, 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.