Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

One chilling mystic scare-fest from storyteller / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an ancient curse when foreigners become subjects in a malevolent conflict. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking saga of struggle and primeval wickedness that will alter horror this ghoul season. Realized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and cinematic motion picture follows five lost souls who snap to confined in a unreachable cottage under the hostile dominion of Kyra, a young woman controlled by a prehistoric ancient fiend. Prepare to be absorbed by a cinematic ride that melds bone-deep fear with legendary tales, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a iconic narrative in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reimagined when the dark entities no longer appear externally, but rather from their psyche. This embodies the shadowy facet of the victims. The result is a riveting cognitive warzone where the tension becomes a unforgiving conflict between moral forces.


In a unforgiving outland, five teens find themselves caught under the unholy sway and possession of a haunted woman. As the victims becomes unresisting to break her curse, severed and tracked by unknowns beyond comprehension, they are thrust to face their raw vulnerabilities while the moments without pause strikes toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear deepens and links break, requiring each cast member to scrutinize their values and the foundation of conscious will itself. The danger magnify with every fleeting time, delivering a scare-fueled ride that integrates paranormal dread with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to channel core terror, an force from prehistory, manifesting in fragile psyche, and questioning a presence that tests the soul when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra asked for exploring something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the takeover begins, and that turn is harrowing because it is so unshielded.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering customers everywhere can survive this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has gathered over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, extending the thrill to fans of fear everywhere.


Be sure to catch this soul-jarring descent into hell. Face *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to explore these terrifying truths about free will.


For featurettes, making-of footage, and updates from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across entertainment pages and visit the movie portal.





Horror’s Turning Point: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate blends myth-forward possession, festival-born jolts, set against series shake-ups

Moving from life-or-death fear inspired by legendary theology and onward to returning series as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 is lining up as the richest paired with tactically planned year for the modern era.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. leading studios are anchoring the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously digital services crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs in concert with ancestral chills. Meanwhile, the art-house flank is propelled by the uplift of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are targeted, therefore 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: The Return of Prestige Fear

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner unveils the final movement from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson is back, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma foregrounded, and a cold supernatural calculus. The stakes escalate here, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a room scale body horror descent led by 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 comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Also notable is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

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

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated mythology. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born, 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 opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Key Trends

Mythic horror goes 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 extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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.

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

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The coming 2026 fear slate: entries, universe starters, together with A stacked Calendar Built For chills

Dek The fresh scare cycle clusters in short order with a January traffic jam, before it flows through midyear, and running into the December corridor, marrying name recognition, original angles, and calculated alternatives. Studios with streamers are leaning into smart costs, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that transform these offerings into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This category has grown into the consistent tool in distribution calendars, a segment that can expand when it hits and still limit the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 reminded buyers that lean-budget fright engines can command the discourse, the following year continued the surge with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The momentum extended into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles underscored there is an opening for several lanes, from franchise continuations to original features that travel well. The sum for 2026 is a run that seems notably aligned across the market, with purposeful groupings, a balance of marquee IP and untested plays, and a sharpened stance on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on paid VOD and platforms.

Insiders argue the genre now functions as a swing piece on the calendar. The genre can roll out on numerous frames, create a grabby hook for creative and platform-native cuts, and lead with ticket buyers that lean in on Thursday nights and stay strong through the second weekend if the entry connects. After a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration underscores belief in that dynamic. The calendar launches with a stacked January stretch, then turns to spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a autumn push that stretches into All Hallows period and afterwards. The gridline also spotlights the ongoing integration of specialized imprints and platforms that can build gradually, create conversation, and scale up at the strategic time.

A further high-level trend is brand curation across unified worlds and legacy IP. Studio teams are not just pushing another follow-up. They are setting up brand continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a brandmark that announces a re-angled tone or a ensemble decision that reconnects a new installment to a vintage era. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating hands-on technique, practical gags and specific settings. That pairing delivers 2026 a solid mix of known notes and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent projects that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a fan-service aware framework without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave fueled by classic imagery, early character teases, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reawakens 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 centerpiece the campaign will play up. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will generate wide appeal through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three defined lanes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is efficient, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an digital partner that grows into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to mirror eerie street stunts and short-form creative that hybridizes devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a title reveal to become an headline beat closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His entries are framed as creative events, with a teaser that reveals little and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor creates space for Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has proven that a in-your-face, hands-on effects style can feel prestige on a moderate cost. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror rush that embraces global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio mounts two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both loyalists and first-timers. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around setting detail, and creature effects, elements that can lift IMAX and PLF uptake and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by historical precision and language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus 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.

Digital platform strategies

Platform tactics for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre entries transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a ordering that enhances both week-one demand and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video combines outside acquisitions with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in deep cuts, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and staff picks to lengthen the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival snaps, securing horror entries near their drops and framing as events releases with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a one-two of targeted theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown appetite to secure select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is engineering 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 offer is tight: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a standard theatrical run for the title, an positive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday frame to expand. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception merits. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their audience.

Legacy titles versus originals

By share, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The concern, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is centering character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a Francophone tone from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the deal build is recognizable enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday previews.

Comparable trends from recent years frame the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not preclude a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they rotate perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on 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 shot back-to-back, permits marketing to tie installments through relationships and themes and to keep assets in-market without long breaks.

Technique and craft currents

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films forecast a continued shift toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that emphasizes unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which fit with fan conventions and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel irresistible. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid heavier IP. The month winds down 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 serious, but the tonal variety creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late winter and spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

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

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s intelligent companion turns into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the power dynamic upends and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, built on Cronin’s physical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting story that threads the dread through a preteen’s shifting inner lens. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that pokes at of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further extends again, with a different family anchored to long-buried horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: to be announced. Production: underway. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 primordial menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: holiday prestige play horror 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the moment is 2026

Three practical forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or reshuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 dumps. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The dark-horse 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 sleeper overperformer 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, 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 cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate 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 warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, and visuals 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, Ready To Roar

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the screams sell the seats.