Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on top streamers

One eerie paranormal suspense film from narrative craftsman / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an mythic dread when strangers become vehicles in a hellish ceremony. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of perseverance and forgotten curse that will resculpt the fear genre this October. Guided by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and atmospheric story follows five lost souls who find themselves imprisoned in a off-grid shack under the ominous power of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a two-thousand-year-old biblical demon. Brace yourself to be absorbed by a audio-visual ride that blends visceral dread with timeless legends, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a well-established tradition in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is reimagined when the dark entities no longer form outside their bodies, but rather inside them. This marks the grimmest layer of the group. The result is a riveting internal warfare where the tension becomes a constant face-off between light and darkness.


In a unforgiving woodland, five souls find themselves contained under the ghastly sway and inhabitation of a unknown figure. As the youths becomes submissive to break her power, severed and targeted by creatures unnamable, they are compelled to wrestle with their deepest fears while the countdown mercilessly counts down toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust surges and associations splinter, pressuring each soul to contemplate their character and the philosophy of independent thought itself. The danger surge with every tick, delivering a chilling narrative that connects occult fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to extract primitive panic, an curse born of forgotten ages, manipulating soul-level flaws, and testing a evil that challenges autonomy when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra asked for exploring something darker than pain. She is uninformed until the invasion happens, and that conversion is eerie because it is so emotional.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing audiences in all regions can experience this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first preview, which has pulled in over strong viewer count.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, taking the terror to horror fans worldwide.


Mark your calendar for this gripping descent into hell. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to see these chilling revelations about human nature.


For director insights, making-of footage, and news from inside the story, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your favorite networks and visit the movie’s homepage.





The horror genre’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 U.S. rollouts blends primeval-possession lore, art-house nightmares, plus brand-name tremors

Beginning with survivor-centric dread rooted in legendary theology as well as canon extensions and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured as well as precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio majors lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, as digital services flood the fall with new voices together with primordial unease. At the same time, indie storytellers is buoyed by the tailwinds from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, however this time, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are precise, hence 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal opens the year with a statement play: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. arriving mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Directed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson re boards, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, reaching teens and game grownups. It opens in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: 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

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Franchise Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Signals and Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror resurges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

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

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The new fright release year: next chapters, new stories, in tandem with A Crowded Calendar calibrated for chills

Dek The incoming horror calendar crams up front with a January glut, before it flows through midyear, and well into the December corridor, marrying marquee clout, fresh ideas, and strategic calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are leaning into mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and influencer-ready assets that frame genre releases into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

This space has solidified as the consistent lever in studio slates, a genre that can accelerate when it lands and still protect the drag when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for decision-makers that low-to-mid budget genre plays can steer cultural conversation, the following year sustained momentum with filmmaker-forward plays and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum translated to the 2025 frame, where returns and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to director-led originals that perform internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the field, with defined corridors, a blend of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a renewed priority on release windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and subscription services.

Schedulers say the genre now acts as a utility player on the distribution slate. Horror can launch on almost any weekend, yield a easy sell for creative and shorts, and punch above weight with moviegoers that appear on first-look nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the film fires. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 setup telegraphs confidence in that approach. The slate commences with a heavy January window, then exploits spring through early summer for counterweight, while leaving room for a October build that connects to late October and into the next week. The layout also reflects the expanded integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and expand at the optimal moment.

A parallel macro theme is franchise tending across linked properties and classic IP. The companies are not just pushing another installment. They are aiming to frame continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that indicates a fresh attitude or a casting choice that reconnects a new installment to a original cycle. At the parallel to that, the creative leads behind the most buzzed-about originals are returning to hands-on technique, practical gags and distinct locales. That alloy produces 2026 a strong blend of home base and novelty, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount marks the early tempo with two headline entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at my review here the lead, positioning the film as both a relay and a origin-leaning character study. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a roots-evoking bent without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave stacked with classic imagery, character-first teases, and a two-beat trailer plan hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will foreground. As a summer relief option, this one will chase mainstream recognition through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format enabling quick switches to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three unique entries. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that mutates into a fatal companion. The date puts it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s promo team likely to renew odd public stunts and brief clips that melds romance and chill.

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

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele titles are set up as event films, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to take 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has established that a flesh-and-blood, makeup-driven approach can feel cinematic on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror hit that leans into worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio places two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, preserving a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is selling as a fresh restart 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 charge to serve both loyalists and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around world-building, and monster craft, elements that can amplify large-format demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror built on obsessive craft and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre entries shift to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a structure that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and trial spikes in the later window. Prime Video blends licensed films with world buys and select theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library engagement, using seasonal hubs, seasonal hubs, and featured rows to stretch the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix originals and festival grabs, confirming horror entries toward the drop and positioning as event drops go-lives with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of precision theatrical plays and swift platform pivots that drives paid trials from buzz. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to buy select projects with top-tier auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 runway with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is clear: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the December frame to expand. That positioning has helped for arthouse horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception encourages. 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 in concert, using limited runs to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By number, 2026 skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is audience fatigue. The go-to fix is to present each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is spotlighting character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French sensibility from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a have a peek at these guys brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is recognizable enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns contextualize the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not hamper a day-date move from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror popped in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they pivot perspective and raise the stakes. 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 two-film strategy, with chapters shot in tandem, lets marketing to connect the chapters through character and theme and to continue assets in field without extended gaps.

How the films are being made

The craft rooms behind this slate telegraph a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in trade spotlights and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that elevates tone over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta inflection that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that underscore fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is crowded. 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 headline IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sustains.

February through May set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can play the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card redemption.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner evolves into something lethally affectionate. 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 surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 severe boss work to survive on a remote island as the chain of command inverts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, driven by Cronin’s hands-on craft and rising 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 intimate haunting setup that threads the dread through a youngster’s wavering subjective view. Rating: rating pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: major-studio and toplined paranormal 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 send-up revival that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime buzz. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 flares, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new clan bound to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: forthcoming. Production: ongoing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and elemental dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that slowed or rearranged in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter 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 beaten straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate bite-size scare clips from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will compete across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

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

The sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first 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. Anticipate a robust 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 icy, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound, 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 Looks Exciting

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shudders sell the seats.