Ancient Evil rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising feature, bowing October 2025 on major streaming services

This haunting otherworldly suspense film from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primeval nightmare when strangers become conduits in a diabolical ordeal. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of resistance and old world terror that will alter scare flicks this spooky time. Realized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and moody motion picture follows five unacquainted souls who regain consciousness imprisoned in a secluded wooden structure under the malevolent power of Kyra, a tormented girl haunted by a prehistoric sacrosanct terror. Arm yourself to be immersed by a visual display that melds primitive horror with biblical origins, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a legendary motif in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is challenged when the entities no longer appear from external sources, but rather inside them. This depicts the grimmest shade of these individuals. The result is a relentless emotional conflict where the tension becomes a brutal fight between right and wrong.


In a forsaken landscape, five characters find themselves caught under the evil presence and grasp of a elusive apparition. As the companions becomes powerless to resist her will, isolated and attacked by terrors ungraspable, they are confronted to deal with their emotional phantoms while the timeline unceasingly counts down toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension surges and relationships erode, pressuring each person to scrutinize their values and the integrity of personal agency itself. The consequences rise with every breath, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses otherworldly suspense with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to channel deep fear, an curse from prehistory, manifesting in emotional fractures, and highlighting a curse that dismantles free will when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant channeling something unfamiliar to reason. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that flip is shocking because it is so unshielded.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing households worldwide can watch this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its intro video, which has pulled in over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, extending the thrill to scare fans abroad.


Witness this bone-rattling fall into madness. Enter *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to acknowledge these dark realities about existence.


For sneak peeks, on-set glimpses, and social posts from the cast and crew, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across fan hubs and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s tipping point: calendar year 2025 U.S. rollouts braids together archetypal-possession themes, underground frights, alongside legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare suffused with primordial scripture and onward to returning series alongside acutely observed indies, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured paired with calculated campaign year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. major banners bookend the months through proven series, as streaming platforms saturate the fall with debut heat and ancestral chills. On the festival side, the independent cohort is propelled by the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are disciplined, so 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s slate leads off the quarter with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, inside today’s landscape. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re teams, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time, the stakes are raised, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It opens in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Next comes Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable led 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 project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns 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.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

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. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror swings back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The upcoming scare Year Ahead: brand plays, original films, alongside A packed Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The arriving terror cycle builds from the jump with a January pile-up, thereafter unfolds through peak season, and well into the holiday stretch, braiding name recognition, fresh ideas, and tactical counterplay. The big buyers and platforms are doubling down on responsible budgets, big-screen-first runs, and shareable marketing that frame these pictures into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has established itself as the dependable option in release strategies, a segment that can spike when it performs and still limit the downside when it falls short. After 2023 demonstrated to top brass that efficiently budgeted scare machines can own the discourse, 2024 sustained momentum with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The energy moved into 2025, where reboots and awards-minded projects showed there is a market for a spectrum, from returning installments to original features that play globally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with mapped-out bands, a balance of household franchises and new concepts, and a tightened priority on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on paid VOD and OTT platforms.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now behaves like a utility player on the slate. Horror can premiere on open real estate, provide a tight logline for creative and shorts, and exceed norms with demo groups that come out on opening previews and sustain through the next pass if the offering works. On the heels of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 plan signals comfort in that playbook. The calendar gets underway with a thick January schedule, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a late-year stretch that stretches into Halloween and beyond. The program also reflects the increasing integration of specialized imprints and SVOD players that can platform and widen, ignite recommendations, and expand at the timely point.

A companion trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and established properties. Studio teams are not just producing another sequel. They are trying to present continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a new vibe or a casting move that binds a next entry to a first wave. At the very same time, the creative leads behind the headline-grabbing originals are championing physical effects work, practical gags and distinct locales. That alloy gives 2026 a lively combination of brand comfort and novelty, which is how the films export.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate projects that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the front, positioning the film as both a passing of the torch and a return-to-roots character study. Production is active in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a classic-referencing bent without retreading the last two entries’ sibling arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive leaning on legacy iconography, intro reveals, and a two-beat 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 paired again, 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 counter-slot, this one will seek mass reach through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format allowing quick shifts to whatever rules horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate strategies. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and commercial: a grieving man brings home an machine companion that unfolds into a lethal partner. The date locates it at the front of a stacked January, with marketing at Universal likely to reprise odd public stunts and snackable content that blurs longing and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a public title to become an fan moment closer to the early tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s releases are marketed as event films, with a teaser that reveals little and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor allows Universal to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has consistently shown that a visceral, practical-effects forward mix can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror blast that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, sustaining a steady supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is describing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both devotees and first-timers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around narrative world, and creature design, elements that can drive large-format demand and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants 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 defined by careful craft and textual fidelity, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

Where the platforms fit in

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s horror titles window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a cadence that fortifies both launch urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix keeps flexible about original films and festival buys, timing horror entries tight to release and elevating as drops debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that drives paid trials from buzz. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has signaled readiness to purchase select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for sustained usage when the genre conversation peaks.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 arc with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional cinema play for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday corridor to broaden. That positioning has delivered for arthouse horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 leans toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use brand equity. The concern, as ever, is brand erosion. The standing approach is to market each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is spotlighting character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a European tilt from a rising filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the bundle is grounded enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not preclude a day-date try from thriving when the brand was trusted. In 2024, precision craft horror exceeded expectations in premium formats. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reorient 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, provides the means for marketing to link the films through relationships and navigate here themes and to keep assets in-market without lulls.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate hint at a continued move toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that centers atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and artisan spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-aware reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which work nicely for fan conventions and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that land in big 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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the menu of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a early fall window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s digital partner turns into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. click site Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss push to survive on a rugged island as the hierarchy flips and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, founded on Cronin’s tactile craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting narrative that pipes the unease through a youth’s flickering internal vantage. Rating: pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that teases modern genre fads and true crime fascinations. Rating: pending. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a unlucky family linked to old terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A new start designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: to be announced. Production: active. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 historical diction and primal menace. Rating: pending. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 and why now

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming launches. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine turnkey scare beats from test screenings, managed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

The slot calculus is real. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 sleeper-hit 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, soundscape, and imagery 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.