Mythic Terror Surfaces within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across major streaming services

A haunting supernatural suspense film from dramatist / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an timeless curse when newcomers become conduits in a supernatural ceremony. Available this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense tale of endurance and archaic horror that will reimagine scare flicks this spooky time. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and shadowy tale follows five teens who find themselves stranded in a hidden lodge under the unfriendly sway of Kyra, a mysterious girl occupied by a ancient biblical force. Get ready to be absorbed by a visual ride that weaves together intense horror with ancestral stories, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a mainstay motif in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is subverted when the spirits no longer form from a different plane, but rather deep within. This embodies the deepest side of the players. The result is a psychologically brutal identity crisis where the emotions becomes a relentless contest between moral forces.


In a abandoned no-man's-land, five characters find themselves contained under the sinister sway and inhabitation of a secretive spirit. As the protagonists becomes defenseless to reject her power, stranded and tormented by forces inconceivable, they are confronted to battle their greatest panics while the countdown relentlessly ticks onward toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread grows and relationships disintegrate, driving each figure to examine their being and the notion of conscious will itself. The threat escalate with every heartbeat, delivering a fear-soaked story that marries demonic fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken core terror, an curse rooted in antiquity, influencing mental cracks, and testing a force that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra called for internalizing something darker than pain. She is unseeing until the takeover begins, and that conversion is bone-chilling because it is so personal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving watchers from coast to coast can face this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its original clip, which has garnered over massive response.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, offering the tale to horror fans worldwide.


Join this soul-jarring descent into darkness. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to acknowledge these evil-rooted truths about the soul.


For film updates, production insights, and insider scoops from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across online outlets and visit the official movie site.





Today’s horror Turning Point: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule interlaces legend-infused possession, microbudget gut-punches, alongside tentpole growls

From endurance-driven terror grounded in mythic scripture and stretching into franchise returns alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is coalescing into the most dimensioned combined with precision-timed year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. top-tier distributors bookend the months via recognizable brands, as streaming platforms prime the fall with discovery plays together with scriptural shivers. On the independent axis, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the echoes of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, but this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are targeted, thus 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures lights the fuse with an audacious swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a modern-day environment. Led by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. set for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner’s schedule launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson re teams, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: nostalgic menace, trauma explicitly handled, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

SVOD Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn with Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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. It reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

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 earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

What to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror ascends again
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The oncoming genre year to come: brand plays, new stories, and also A packed Calendar Built For goosebumps

Dek The current scare cycle lines up immediately with a January glut, subsequently unfolds through the mid-year, and continuing into the festive period, braiding name recognition, new voices, and strategic offsets. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theater-first strategies, and buzz-forward plans that elevate these releases into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

This category has shown itself to be the steady tool in studio calendars, a corner that can scale when it breaks through and still safeguard the risk when it falls short. After 2023 reminded executives that modestly budgeted horror vehicles can own the zeitgeist, the following year kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and slow-burn breakouts. The tailwind carried into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and filmmaker-prestige bets made clear there is a lane for a spectrum, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that export nicely. The end result for 2026 is a slate that looks unusually coordinated across the market, with mapped-out bands, a blend of household franchises and new concepts, and a renewed emphasis on exhibition windows that boost PVOD and platform value on paid VOD and subscription services.

Insiders argue the category now functions as a flex slot on the release plan. The genre can debut on open real estate, deliver a easy sell for promo reels and reels, and outperform with moviegoers that come out on previews Thursday and stay strong through the week two if the release lands. Coming out of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 mapping demonstrates faith in that dynamic. The calendar kicks off with a heavy January stretch, then targets spring into early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a late-year stretch that runs into All Hallows period and afterwards. The schedule also features the deeper integration of indie distributors and OTT outlets that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and roll out at the inflection point.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just making another installment. They are aiming to frame story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that indicates a new vibe or a cast configuration that ties a next entry to a first wave. At the concurrently, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are returning to practical craft, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That convergence gives 2026 a confident blend of assurance and freshness, which is how the films export.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two headline projects that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the spine, presenting it as both a lineage transfer and a origin-leaning relationship-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the artistic posture announces a roots-evoking approach without covering again the last two entries’ sibling arc. Look for a marketing run anchored in signature symbols, character previews, and a trailer cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a summer contrast play, this one will chase large awareness through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick switches to whatever dominates pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique projects. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is elegant, tragic, and logline-clear: a grieving man onboards an digital partner that evolves into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to iterate on eerie street stunts and short-form creative that interlaces companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title drop to become an event moment closer to the first trailer. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. The filmmaker’s films are positioned as marquee events, with a concept-forward tease and a later creative that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date opens a lane to command 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has demonstrated that a tactile, practical-first execution can feel premium on a tight budget. Position this as a hard-R summer horror jolt that spotlights international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot 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 explicit mandate to serve both fans and casuals. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can stoke premium booking interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror built on careful craft and period language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The label has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is strong.

Streaming windows and tactics

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s horror titles flow to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that boosts both week-one demand and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video blends catalogue additions with cross-border buys and limited runs in theaters when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in catalog discovery, using featured rows, horror hubs, and editorial rows to keep attention on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival pickups, scheduling horror entries near launch and making event-like arrivals with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of targeted cinema placements and fast windowing that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with prestige directors or star-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has helped for elevated genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception encourages. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using targeted theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchises versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is overexposure. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and this page director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comps from the last three years outline the method. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that held distribution windows did not prevent a hybrid test from performing when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror exceeded expectations in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, gives leeway to marketing to tie installments through personae and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without extended gaps.

How the films are being made

The director conversations behind the 2026 slate foreshadow a continued move toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that foregrounds unease and texture rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta reframe that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which fit with convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that highlight disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that sing on PLF.

How the year maps out

January is full. 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 heftier brand moves. 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 real, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-October slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited plot reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s artificial companion becomes something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: tone-first game 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 tough boss struggle to survive on a lonely island as the power dynamic swivels and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and slow-bloom 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 family-home haunting chiller that pipes the unease through a minor’s uneven point of view. Rating: forthcoming. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A spoof revival that lampoons today’s horror trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a unlucky family snared by past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-first horror over action fireworks. Rating: undetermined. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. 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 era-faithful speech and raw menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three hands-on forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming releases. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate repeatable beats from test screenings, precision scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

There is also the slotting calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 lean-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 surprise over-performer 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, 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 rhythm and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, audio design, and camera work 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.