Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes ancient terror, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

A terrifying unearthly scare-fest from narrative craftsman / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an primordial curse when passersby become tools in a demonic conflict. Debuting on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful story of struggle and ancient evil that will reshape horror this October. Visualized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and shadowy thriller follows five unknowns who regain consciousness trapped in a cut-off hideaway under the malignant rule of Kyra, a central character dominated by a antiquated ancient fiend. Anticipate to be ensnared by a motion picture adventure that melds deep-seated panic with arcane tradition, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a classic concept in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is turned on its head when the dark entities no longer develop from a different plane, but rather inside their minds. This suggests the darkest element of the players. The result is a enthralling mental war where the events becomes a relentless confrontation between heaven and hell.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five friends find themselves cornered under the ominous influence and overtake of a enigmatic female presence. As the ensemble becomes helpless to resist her curse, exiled and chased by presences mind-shattering, they are required to encounter their inner demons while the time brutally runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease builds and relationships fracture, pressuring each soul to scrutinize their essence and the idea of decision-making itself. The consequences intensify with every beat, delivering a chilling narrative that intertwines demonic fright with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to explore instinctual horror, an power that predates humanity, emerging via soul-level flaws, and confronting a force that challenges autonomy when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra called for internalizing something outside normal anguish. She is blind until the haunting manifests, and that transition is haunting because it is so intimate.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that watchers in all regions can face this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its initial teaser, which has pulled in over notable views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, offering the tale to horror fans worldwide.


Experience this unforgettable journey into fear. Explore *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to dive into these terrifying truths about mankind.


For previews, set experiences, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s decisive shift: the year 2025 U.S. calendar interlaces ancient-possession motifs, independent shockers, stacked beside returning-series thunder

Spanning grit-forward survival fare steeped in old testament echoes as well as canon extensions set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 looks like the most textured together with tactically planned year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. leading studios set cornerstones with established lines, while subscription platforms saturate the fall with new perspectives alongside legend-coded dread. In the indie lane, the art-house flank is catching the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween stays the prime week, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are intentional, thus 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium dread reemerges

The top end is active. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with a confident swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in a clear present-tense world. Under director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. targeting mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Eli Craig directs and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner launches the swan song of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 follows. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson resumes command, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma centered writing, plus otherworld rules that chill. This pass pushes higher, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The new chapter enriches the lore, stretches the animatronic parade, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Plays: Slim budgets, major punch

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a room scale body horror descent featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Franchise Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, with Francis Lawrence directing, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror retakes ground
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Projection: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The coming 2026 fear release year: continuations, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar optimized for jolts

Dek The brand-new scare season stacks up front with a January crush, thereafter rolls through the mid-year, and running into the holiday stretch, balancing series momentum, novel approaches, and savvy calendar placement. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-driven marketing that convert the slate’s entries into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has proven to be the consistent release in release strategies, a category that can expand when it hits and still protect the drag when it stumbles. After 2023 re-taught decision-makers that mid-range horror vehicles can own the national conversation, the following year sustained momentum with auteur-driven buzzy films and unexpected risers. The energy pushed into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects made clear there is a market for diverse approaches, from series extensions to original features that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a run that shows rare alignment across players, with intentional bunching, a pairing of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a refocused commitment on cinema windows that fuel later windows on paid VOD and home platforms.

Insiders argue the category now acts as a utility player on the grid. The genre can open on open real estate, supply a clear pitch for trailers and reels, and outstrip with demo groups that show up on preview nights and return through the next weekend if the title satisfies. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 cadence exhibits comfort in that model. The calendar starts with a thick January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for counterweight, while clearing room for a fall corridor that stretches into the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The program also features the ongoing integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A companion trend is legacy care across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just mounting another follow-up. They are trying to present lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that broadcasts a new tone or a casting choice that ties a latest entry to a first wave. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the most anticipated originals are returning to in-camera technique, on-set effects and vivid settings. That pairing provides 2026 a smart balance of recognition and unexpected turns, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

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

Paramount establishes early momentum with two high-profile bets that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the heart, signaling it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance points to a classic-referencing treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on signature symbols, first images of characters, and a two-beat trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will drive wide appeal through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick reframes to whatever leads genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, soulful, and logline-clear: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that mutates into a lethal partner. The date puts it at the front of a heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit creepy live activations and brief clips that fuses intimacy and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a title drop to become an marketing beat closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele projects are sold as auteur events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to saturate 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has made clear that a raw, physical-effects centered execution can feel top-tier on a disciplined budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror hit that leans into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges 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 sharper mandate to serve both loyalists and novices. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can accelerate PLF interest 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 advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform tactics for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries flow to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that maximizes both launch urgency and sign-up momentum in the downstream. Prime Video balances acquired titles with world buys and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library engagement, using featured rows, genre hubs, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on lifetime take. Netflix retains agility about own-slate titles and festival deals, timing horror entries toward the drop and positioning as event drops launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and swift platform pivots that turns chatter to conversion. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to purchase select projects with accomplished filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 pipeline with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is clean: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, updated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday frame to open out. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-driven genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By share, 2026 leans toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate brand equity. The risk, as ever, is audience fatigue. The workable fix is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a rising filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the deal build is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Past-three-year patterns contextualize the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that respected streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from hitting when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they shift POV and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, allows marketing to cross-link entries through personae and themes and to keep materials circulating without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this slate telegraph a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking to 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 allowing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft spotlights before rolling out a preview that withholds plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-referential reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which play well in convention floor stunts and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

Annual flow

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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid heavier IP. The month ends 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 menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a early fall window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a minimalist tease strategy and limited teasers that elevate concept over story.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card redemption.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s algorithmic partner turns into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 have a peek here chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 abrasive boss work to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to dread, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting piece that threads the dread through a youngster’s flickering internal vantage. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that needles current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal 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 surges, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan lashed to past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

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

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and ancient menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 and why now

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that eased or re-slotted in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and accelerated 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, curated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will jostle across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 chase continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient screen counts, 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 detail, 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that great post to read shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline weblink into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, guard the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.