Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

One chilling supernatural terror film from screenwriter / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an age-old nightmare when passersby become vehicles in a cursed struggle. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of struggle and primeval wickedness that will reimagine horror this ghoul season. Crafted by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and gothic film follows five individuals who are stirred caught in a hidden house under the oppressive dominion of Kyra, a tormented girl controlled by a millennia-old sacrosanct terror. Arm yourself to be enthralled by a immersive display that intertwines gut-punch terror with ancient myths, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a time-honored narrative in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is twisted when the demons no longer come from a different plane, but rather internally. This depicts the grimmest dimension of the victims. The result is a gripping inner struggle where the conflict becomes a unforgiving push-pull between heaven and hell.


In a abandoned wilderness, five individuals find themselves caught under the ghastly grip and spiritual invasion of a unidentified spirit. As the cast becomes incapacitated to reject her manipulation, cut off and tormented by evils unfathomable, they are thrust to encounter their worst nightmares while the moments harrowingly counts down toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion intensifies and teams dissolve, coercing each survivor to question their true nature and the principle of autonomy itself. The cost rise with every beat, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses occult fear with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to draw upon deep fear, an power beyond time, channeling itself through emotional fractures, and challenging a evil that tests the soul when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra meant evoking something past sanity. She is ignorant until the demon emerges, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so intimate.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be released for public screening beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—allowing streamers in all regions can engage with this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original promo, which has garnered over six-figure audience.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, giving access to the movie to horror fans worldwide.


Mark your calendar for this cinematic exploration of dread. Explore *Young & Cursed* this launch day to dive into these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For film updates, extra content, and updates from behind the lens, follow @YACMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the movie’s homepage.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup weaves biblical-possession ideas, independent shockers, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Running from last-stand terror infused with biblical myth through to IP renewals and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the richest combined with tactically planned year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. leading studios plant stakes across the year with established lines, even as streamers flood the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with ancient terrors. On the independent axis, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the backdraft of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and now, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are exacting, so 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium genre swings back

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the base, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner sets the tone with a marquee bet: a refashioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a crisp modern milieu. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. Booked into mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, the WB camp rolls out the capstone from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: nostalgic menace, trauma explicitly handled, paired with unsettling supernatural order. Here the stakes rise, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

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

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

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. It looks like sharp programming. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Dials to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Projection: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. 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. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming spook cycle: next chapters, fresh concepts, paired with A hectic Calendar geared toward goosebumps

Dek: The new genre slate crams in short order with a January bottleneck, and then runs through the summer months, and running into the year-end corridor, combining brand equity, untold stories, and smart offsets. Studios and streamers are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that pivot these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the sturdy move in programming grids, a corner that can spike when it breaks through and still hedge the downside when it misses. After 2023 reassured greenlighters that lean-budget horror vehicles can steer the zeitgeist, 2024 maintained heat with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The upswing rolled into 2025, where legacy revivals and festival-grade titles showed there is space for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to original one-offs that scale internationally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a slate that shows rare alignment across companies, with defined corridors, a blend of known properties and novel angles, and a recommitted emphasis on box-office windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and OTT platforms.

Executives say the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the programming map. Horror can roll out on almost any weekend, generate a clear pitch for teasers and UGC-friendly snippets, and lead with patrons that show up on early shows and return through the week two if the movie pays off. After a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 pattern exhibits comfort in that playbook. The year gets underway with a heavy January run, then uses spring and early summer for contrast, while carving room for a late-year stretch that runs into late October and into post-Halloween. The gridline also spotlights the expanded integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can platform a title, build word of mouth, and grow at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is legacy care across ongoing universes and classic IP. The studios are not just mounting another chapter. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a new tone or a talent selection that links a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing physical effects work, real effects and distinct locales. That mix affords the 2026 slate a vital pairing of trust and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent titles that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-first story. Production is active in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a memory-charged angle without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Count on a promo wave rooted in recognizable motifs, early character teases, and a tease cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will emphasize. As a summer contrast play, this one will pursue wide appeal through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick reframes to whatever tops genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three separate lanes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and easily pitched: a grieving man sets up an machine companion that shifts into a harmful mate. The date locates it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and short-form creative that mixes romance and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a public title to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial promo. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are framed as filmmaker events, with a hinting teaser and a later trailer push that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-month date affords Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, prosthetic-heavy mix can feel big on a lean spend. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror shot that emphasizes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio deploys two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is billing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can stoke format premiums and fan events.

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 sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by careful craft and archaic language, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is favorable.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s slate transition to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a cadence that amplifies both FOMO and subscription bumps in the tail. Prime Video blends library titles with global pickups and small theatrical windows when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library curation, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and staff picks to maximize the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix retains agility about Netflix films and festival pickups, finalizing horror entries toward the drop and turning into events launches with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and prompt platform moves that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 slate with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is simple: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, retooled 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. The distributor has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the September weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas corridor to broaden. That positioning has shown results for prestige horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in Check This Out public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception prompts. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their user base.

Known brands versus new stories

By proportion, 2026 is weighted toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage brand equity. The concern, as ever, is overexposure. The go-to fix is to present each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a European tilt from a fresh helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the assembly is known enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

The last three-year set outline the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that respected streaming windows did not foreclose a parallel release from working when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror over-performed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 filmed consecutively, enables marketing to bridge entries through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without long breaks.

How the films are being made

The director conversations behind 2026 horror foreshadow a continued move toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes tone and tension rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and department features before rolling out a teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for red-band excess, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and produces shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta recalibration that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature execution and sets, which play well in convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that land in premium houses.

From winter to holidays

January is heavy. 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 foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the tonal variety gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

Winter into spring load in summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls 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 jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil follows September 18, a early fall window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to navigate here sustain conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and card redemption.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genome. 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 widowed man’s algorithmic partner grows into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 chapter in a trilogy opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 prickly boss work to survive on a far-flung island as the pecking order turns and paranoia creeps in. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to terror, grounded in Cronin’s in-camera craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting scenario that manipulates the fright of a child’s mercurial perceptions. Rating: forthcoming. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new family anchored to residual nightmares. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: to be announced. Production: continuing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 dread. Rating: pending. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 and why now

Three hands-on forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or shifted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and pared-down 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 surpassed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify shareable moments from test screenings, select scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will jostle across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 breakout hunt 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 harvest those lanes. 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. 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient screen counts, 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 texture, soundcraft, and visual design 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 Shapes Up Strong

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.