Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a hair raising feature, launching October 2025 on global platforms

A haunting paranormal shockfest from screenwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primeval terror when drifters become subjects in a hellish game. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of endurance and forgotten curse that will revamp terror storytelling this scare season. Produced by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and immersive thriller follows five individuals who wake up stranded in a isolated shack under the dark grip of Kyra, a mysterious girl possessed by a two-thousand-year-old biblical demon. Anticipate to be immersed by a motion picture ride that blends visceral dread with biblical origins, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a well-established motif in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is reversed when the beings no longer descend from external sources, but rather from their core. This echoes the malevolent corner of all involved. The result is a psychologically brutal emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a soul-crushing tug-of-war between right and wrong.


In a barren no-man's-land, five campers find themselves isolated under the fiendish force and grasp of a obscure spirit. As the survivors becomes unable to withstand her dominion, abandoned and hunted by entities indescribable, they are pushed to face their raw vulnerabilities while the seconds relentlessly runs out toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease builds and alliances crack, requiring each soul to challenge their values and the integrity of freedom of choice itself. The stakes amplify with every fleeting time, delivering a terror ride that blends paranormal dread with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to tap into deep fear, an force that existed before mankind, influencing our weaknesses, and navigating a evil that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra needed manifesting something darker than pain. She is clueless until the entity awakens, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so emotional.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that households around the globe can be part of this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its intro video, which has racked up over strong viewer count.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, taking the terror to fans of fear everywhere.


Experience this heart-stopping ride through nightmares. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to experience these nightmarish insights about free will.


For director insights, extra content, and news directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursed across social media and visit the movie’s homepage.





Modern horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 season U.S. rollouts fuses archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, alongside franchise surges

Beginning with pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by near-Eastern lore and onward to franchise returns and surgical indie voices, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated and tactically planned year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios hold down the year with familiar IP, even as OTT services stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, the independent cohort is riding the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige terror resurfaces

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

Universal’s distribution arm opens the year with a headline swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. arriving mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Eli Craig directs and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, Warner’s pipeline unveils the final movement from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re teams, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: 70s style chill, trauma explicitly handled, and a cold supernatural calculus. This run ups the stakes, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and 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 is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Authored and directed 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 the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. That is a savvy move. No bloated mythology. No continuity burden. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

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

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

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

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Trend Lines

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

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

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
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.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The upcoming fear year to come: follow-ups, new stories, as well as A busy Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The fresh scare cycle builds at the outset with a January crush, thereafter rolls through the warm months, and continuing into the festive period, blending legacy muscle, new voices, and savvy counterweight. Distributors with platforms are leaning into smart costs, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that frame these films into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has become the predictable lever in studio slates, a genre that can surge when it clicks and still buffer the downside when it stumbles. After 2023 reminded executives that mid-range scare machines can drive the national conversation, the following year maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam pushed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and elevated films made clear there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that carry overseas. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the industry, with clear date clusters, a harmony of legacy names and untested plays, and a renewed priority on box-office windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Buyers contend the genre now operates like a fill-in ace on the rollout map. Horror can open on virtually any date, create a simple premise for previews and short-form placements, and outstrip with patrons that arrive on Thursday previews and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the feature fires. Coming out of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 setup telegraphs confidence in that logic. The year begins with a heavy January window, then primes spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a October build that flows toward All Hallows period and into post-Halloween. The gridline also illustrates the tightening integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can stage a platform run, ignite recommendations, and move wide at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across shared IP webs and storied titles. The players are not just producing another follow-up. They are setting up ongoing narrative with a heightened moment, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a re-angled tone or a star attachment that reconnects a new entry to a original cycle. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are championing on-set craft, practical gags and concrete locations. That combination produces the 2026 slate a strong blend of brand comfort and discovery, 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 headline entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, setting it up as both a relay and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach signals a fan-service aware campaign without looping the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave built on brand visuals, character previews, and a tiered teaser plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will play up. As a counterweight in summer, this one will go after general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format inviting quick reframes to whatever drives the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three specific lanes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is crisp, melancholic, and concept-forward: a grieving man implements an digital partner that escalates into a perilous partner. The date nudges it to the front of a busy month, with the Universal machine likely to mirror viral uncanny stunts and bite-size content that threads love and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it this contact form as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a branding reveal to become an earned moment closer to the debut look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are branded as marquee events, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, prosthetic-heavy execution can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror hit that maximizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, preserving a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is calling a clean-slate approach 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 loyalists and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around setting detail, and practical creature work, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by obsessive craft and period speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that boosts both premiere heat and sign-up spikes in the tail. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with global originals and targeted theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in catalog engagement, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and featured rows to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival deals, timing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around releases with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a staged of precision releases 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 activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a curated basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation builds.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 pipeline with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is direct: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled 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. 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 operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas corridor to open out. That positioning has proved effective for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception allows. Keep an eye on 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 in tandem, using targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchises versus originals

By proportion, 2026 skews toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The workable fix is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-tinted vision from a hot helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-driven titles add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature imp source mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the team and cast is familiar enough to spark pre-sales and early previews.

Recent-year comps outline the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that observed windows did not deter a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror over-performed in PLF. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The weblink Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, creates space for marketing to tie installments through character and theme and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre indicate a continued preference for material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that leans on creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta recalibration that centers an original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which play well in fan conventions and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that foreground hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

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 atmospheric change-up amid larger brand plays. The month closes 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 credible, but the range of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth holds.

Late winter and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. 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 run their PLF course.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a early fall window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s synthetic partner grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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 stumble upon a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: mood-led 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 prickly boss claw to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fear, grounded in Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. 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 residential haunting setup that leverages the panic of a child’s tricky interpretations. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult 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 genre lampoon that lampoons contemporary horror memes and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a another family snared by past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-driven horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: pending. Production: moving forward. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 time-true diction and elemental fear. Rating: pending. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or re-slotted in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on bite-size scare clips from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, clearing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will stack across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 midrange-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, soundcraft, and cinematography 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

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is name recognition where it counts, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shocks sell the seats.