Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases age-old dread, a fear soaked thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on leading streamers

A unnerving spiritual fear-driven tale from screenwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an timeless fear when strangers become vehicles in a cursed conflict. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching chronicle of overcoming and old world terror that will reimagine terror storytelling this spooky time. Directed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and eerie feature follows five people who regain consciousness isolated in a hidden cabin under the oppressive rule of Kyra, a mysterious girl inhabited by a time-worn sacrosanct terror. Get ready to be shaken by a immersive journey that unites bodily fright with arcane tradition, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a legendary foundation in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reimagined when the malevolences no longer come from elsewhere, but rather within themselves. This represents the most primal aspect of the cast. The result is a intense mental war where the events becomes a ongoing face-off between righteousness and malevolence.


In a abandoned outland, five youths find themselves stuck under the possessive dominion and haunting of a haunted being. As the companions becomes defenseless to withstand her influence, detached and tormented by evils ungraspable, they are made to deal with their inner horrors while the moments brutally winds toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension surges and ties shatter, pressuring each figure to reflect on their personhood and the foundation of volition itself. The stakes grow with every passing moment, delivering a horror experience that combines demonic fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to tap into raw dread, an force born of forgotten ages, operating within our fears, and navigating a presence that dismantles free will when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra asked for exploring something far beyond human desperation. She is blind until the invasion happens, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so raw.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving audiences everywhere can be part of this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has been viewed over a viral response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Do not miss this visceral journey into fear. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to confront these spiritual awakenings about the soul.


For cast commentary, director cuts, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across social media and visit the movie portal.





Contemporary horror’s inflection point: 2025 across markets domestic schedule Mixes legend-infused possession, microbudget gut-punches, and series shake-ups

Running from survivor-centric dread suffused with old testament echoes through to legacy revivals together with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 appears poised to be horror’s most layered and carefully orchestrated year in a decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. the big studios lay down anchors through proven series, at the same time platform operators prime the fall with fresh voices alongside archetypal fear. In the indie lane, independent banners is propelled by the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween holding the peak, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are calculated, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with a confident swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. dated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

As summer winds down, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: 70s style chill, trauma centered writing, and eerie supernatural logic. The ante is higher this round, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, speaking to teens and older millennials. It posts in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streamer Exclusives: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No legacy baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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.

Trends to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror comes roaring back
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Forecast: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The next genre Year Ahead: installments, new stories, in tandem with A stacked Calendar aimed at jolts

Dek: The current genre season builds right away with a January glut, and then rolls through summer corridors, and deep into the winter holidays, combining brand equity, inventive spins, and calculated calendar placement. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that shape genre titles into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has established itself as the sturdy counterweight in annual schedules, a lane that can expand when it hits and still mitigate the floor when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year showed buyers that lean-budget genre plays can steer pop culture, the following year held pace with auteur-driven buzzy films and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam pushed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and filmmaker-prestige bets showed there is demand for multiple flavors, from ongoing IP entries to fresh IP that travel well. The result for 2026 is a lineup that shows rare alignment across companies, with purposeful groupings, a harmony of legacy names and novel angles, and a re-energized commitment on release windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and streaming.

Executives say the category now operates like a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can bow on almost any weekend, generate a clear pitch for trailers and platform-native cuts, and overperform with ticket buyers that line up on Thursday nights and stick through the second frame if the entry delivers. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration shows confidence in that logic. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while carving room for a fall corridor that runs into spooky season and into early November. The gridline also underscores the ongoing integration of boutique distributors and digital platforms that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and move wide at the strategic time.

Another broad trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and established properties. Major shops are not just releasing another follow-up. They are setting up lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title design that flags a refreshed voice or a lead change that ties a next entry to a classic era. At the concurrently, the creative teams behind the most anticipated originals are embracing in-camera technique, practical effects and site-specific worlds. That mix affords the 2026 slate a confident blend of comfort and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two centerpiece bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, marketing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture signals a roots-evoking angle without recycling the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also relaunches 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will play up. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick shifts to whatever drives the social talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is clean, soulful, and commercial: a grieving man onboards an virtual partner that becomes a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back eerie street stunts and quick hits that melds companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a official title to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy approach can feel prestige on a moderate cost. Look for a gore-forward summer horror charge that leans hard into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is billing 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 charge to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can drive large-format demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by immersive craft and period speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is robust.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal titles shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a stair-step that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with international acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using prominent placements, holiday hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries toward the drop and making event-like premieres with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of limited theatrical footprints and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to purchase select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 track with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is tight: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, refined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn stretch.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then working the December frame to move out. That positioning has proved effective for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception justifies. Plan on 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 in tandem, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Legacy titles versus originals

By proportion, 2026 leans toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is overexposure. The workable fix is to pitch each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a fresh helmer. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even horror movies when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is assuring enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Recent-year comps illuminate the model. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not foreclose a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, auteur craft horror surged in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel new when they shift POV and elevate scope. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot consecutively, lets marketing to relate entries through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without doldrums.

How the films are being made

The production chatter behind 2026 horror indicate a continued shift toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers atmosphere and fear rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in trade spotlights and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that centers its original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster realization and design, which fit with fan-con activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel key. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is jammed. 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 somber counterpoint amid larger brand plays. The month winds down 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 thick, but the variety of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Winter into spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a minimalist tease strategy and limited plot reveals that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s machine mate escalates into something fatal and romantic. 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: gothic-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 difficult boss work to survive on a far-flung island as the pecking order flips and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s material craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. 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 family-home haunting chiller that manipulates the dread of a child’s unreliable point of view. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A send-up revival that teases of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fixations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further extends again, with a young family linked to old terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an lean news toward survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 era-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more structured 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 landings. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will stack across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

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

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 shock 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, 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 pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, acoustics, 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.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand heft where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.