Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on leading streamers

This chilling supernatural fright fest from narrative craftsman / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an prehistoric evil when newcomers become victims in a malevolent ordeal. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish journey of endurance and prehistoric entity that will reconstruct terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Produced by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and claustrophobic suspense flick follows five unknowns who regain consciousness confined in a secluded lodge under the malevolent control of Kyra, a female lead claimed by a antiquated religious nightmare. Be warned to be drawn in by a audio-visual venture that combines bodily fright with ancestral stories, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a long-standing theme in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is turned on its head when the beings no longer form from an outside force, but rather from within. This marks the grimmest version of the cast. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the plotline becomes a constant push-pull between light and darkness.


In a forsaken woodland, five teens find themselves marooned under the ghastly effect and inhabitation of a mysterious character. As the protagonists becomes incapable to oppose her command, detached and followed by unknowns beyond comprehension, they are driven to encounter their inner demons while the deathwatch unceasingly winds toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension mounts and ties crack, forcing each person to reflect on their essence and the notion of self-determination itself. The pressure rise with every short lapse, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that combines paranormal dread with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to explore primal fear, an malevolence beyond time, channeling itself through fragile psyche, and challenging a curse that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra involved tapping into something beyond human emotion. She is clueless until the invasion happens, and that evolution is gut-wrenching because it is so personal.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing customers worldwide can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its intro video, which has garnered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, presenting the nightmare to international horror buffs.


Join this cinematic exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to acknowledge these ghostly lessons about existence.


For sneak peeks, director cuts, and news via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror watershed moment: the 2025 season stateside slate integrates ancient-possession motifs, art-house nightmares, set against franchise surges

Spanning last-stand terror rooted in ancient scripture all the way to canon extensions in concert with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the richest plus strategic year in ten years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. leading studios are anchoring the year using marquee IP, simultaneously digital services flood the fall with discovery plays in concert with mythic dread. In parallel, indie storytellers is fueled by the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, though in this cycle, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are targeted, as a result 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium dread reemerges

The top end is active. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s distribution arm fires the first shot with a statement play: a contemporary Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. With Leigh Whannell at the helm with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Booked into mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer fades, the WB camp unveils the final movement of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson resumes command, and the tone that worked before is intact: 70s style chill, trauma explicitly handled, and eerie supernatural logic. The stakes escalate here, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It drops in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

SVOD Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: 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 Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a smart play. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror returns
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival buzz converts to 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.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new fear slate: entries, standalone ideas, and also A loaded Calendar engineered for screams

Dek The arriving terror year packs at the outset with a January glut, before it carries through summer corridors, and deep into the year-end corridor, braiding brand heft, fresh ideas, and tactical counter-scheduling. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing cost discipline, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that convert horror entries into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the dependable swing in programming grids, a space that can break out when it hits and still limit the losses when it falls short. After the 2023 year demonstrated to strategy teams that lean-budget genre plays can steer the discourse, 2024 kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam translated to 2025, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers proved there is demand for varied styles, from ongoing IP entries to one-and-done originals that resonate abroad. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a roster that presents tight coordination across companies, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a renewed attention on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and home platforms.

Schedulers say the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the distribution slate. Horror can open on almost any weekend, yield a sharp concept for marketing and short-form placements, and over-index with fans that turn out on first-look nights and stick through the week two if the movie hits. Emerging from a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 layout underscores assurance in that engine. The slate rolls out with a stacked January schedule, then plants flags in spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while leaving room for a fall corridor that extends to All Hallows period and past Halloween. The arrangement also reflects the tightening integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the proper time.

A notable top-line trend is brand strategy across linked properties and veteran brands. The players are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are trying to present ongoing narrative with a must-see charge, whether that is a brandmark that indicates a tonal shift or a cast configuration that anchors a new entry to a heyday. At the very same time, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are prioritizing in-camera technique, in-camera effects and grounded locations. That convergence produces the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and newness, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount leads early with two high-profile bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the center, setting it up as both a relay and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the creative posture indicates a roots-evoking mode without going over the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push anchored in heritage visuals, character previews, and a tiered teaser plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will build wide buzz through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever rules horror talk that spring.

Universal has three specific strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is tidy, sorrow-tinged, and easily pitched: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that turns into a perilous partner. The date slots it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to revisit strange in-person beats and snackable content that hybridizes affection and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room imp source for a official title to become an attention spike closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele titles are branded as director events, with a opaque teaser and a later creative that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The spooky-season slot creates space for Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has long shown that a raw, hands-on effects execution can feel high-value on a tight budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that maximizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio rolls out two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is describing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both loyalists and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around narrative world, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books 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 built on immersive craft and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is supportive.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Windowing plans in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles land on copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a stair-step that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and sub growth in the later phase. Prime Video interleaves licensed content with worldwide buys and limited runs in theaters when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library pulls, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and collection rows to stretch the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix remains opportunistic about original films and festival snaps, slotting horror entries near launch and turning into events go-lives with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that turns chatter to conversion. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for sustained usage when the genre conversation builds.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 pipeline with two recognizable titles. 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 somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn stretch.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has worked well for arthouse horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception justifies. Keep an eye on 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 hand in hand, using precision theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By share, the 2026 slate tips toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage name recognition. The concern, as ever, is brand wear. The go-to fix is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is centering character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles supply the 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the configuration is comforting enough to accelerate early sales and first-night audiences.

Rolling three-year comps outline the method. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not prevent a same-day experiment from winning when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror rose in PLF. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

Behind-the-camera trends

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries foreshadow a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights tone and tension rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster aesthetics and world-building, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

Release calendar overview

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 buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the menu of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Winter into spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a slow-reveal plan and limited previews that put concept first.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s digital partner turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 scramble to survive on a cut-off island as the hierarchy turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to fear, shaped by Cronin’s in-camera craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting chiller that manipulates the dread of a child’s unreliable interpretations. Rating: TBA. 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 satirical comeback that teases of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fixations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites breaks out, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family bound to ancient dread. Rating: TBD. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A new start designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: pending. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 period-specific language and elemental menace. Rating: pending. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three operational forces shape this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming placements. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will share space across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 surprise-hit pursuit 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 press those advantages. 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, 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 condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, smart allocations, 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 framing 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 Promising 2026

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.