Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval horror, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An terrifying spectral horror tale from author / director Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic fear when strangers become instruments in a devilish struggle. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of struggle and forgotten curse that will resculpt terror storytelling this harvest season. Brought to life by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and shadowy story follows five teens who are stirred ensnared in a far-off house under the malevolent grip of Kyra, a tormented girl overtaken by a antiquated Old Testament spirit. Get ready to be captivated by a visual presentation that fuses bone-deep fear with folklore, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a legendary trope in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is reversed when the monsters no longer appear from a different plane, but rather from within. This represents the deepest aspect of every character. The result is a harrowing mind game where the conflict becomes a unforgiving push-pull between good and evil.


In a bleak landscape, five figures find themselves caught under the possessive force and inhabitation of a unknown spirit. As the protagonists becomes helpless to deny her manipulation, detached and pursued by spirits inconceivable, they are driven to acknowledge their greatest panics while the seconds brutally counts down toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion escalates and relationships collapse, requiring each individual to scrutinize their existence and the notion of self-determination itself. The risk grow with every fleeting time, delivering a scare-fueled ride that integrates paranormal dread with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to draw upon basic terror, an power rooted in antiquity, feeding on emotional fractures, and highlighting a will that forces self-examination when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is in denial until the takeover begins, and that pivot is terrifying because it is so private.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing fans globally can be part of this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original promo, which has garnered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, making the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Avoid skipping this heart-stopping trip into the unknown. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to survive these haunting secrets about inner darkness.


For behind-the-scenes access, behind-the-scenes content, and insider scoops from inside the story, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your socials and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s tipping point: the year 2025 stateside slate weaves Mythic Possession, underground frights, alongside returning-series thunder

Running from survivor-centric dread saturated with scriptural legend through to series comebacks alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most dimensioned in tandem with deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. leading studios hold down the year via recognizable brands, in tandem digital services crowd the fall with discovery plays as well as primordial unease. On the festival side, the art-house flank is carried on the carry from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are exacting, so 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp opens the year with a confident swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, inside today’s landscape. Under director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. landing in mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner’s slate bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retro dread, trauma explicitly handled, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time the stakes climb, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding the tentpole corner 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, thickens the animatronic pantheon, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Plays: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a close quarters body horror study fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside 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 each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is an astute call. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Long Running Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends Worth Watching

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

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

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The next genre season: installments, new stories, in tandem with A busy Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The new genre season stacks at the outset with a January cluster, following that rolls through summer, and continuing into the holidays, balancing series momentum, inventive spins, and tactical alternatives. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and shareable marketing that elevate the slate’s entries into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This category has grown into the bankable play in studio calendars, a lane that can break out when it connects and still protect the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 reminded buyers that efficiently budgeted fright engines can lead the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The upswing rolled into 2025, where revivals and premium-leaning entries showed there is a lane for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that carry overseas. The net effect for 2026 is a lineup that shows rare alignment across the field, with obvious clusters, a harmony of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a recommitted strategy on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium home window and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the category now serves as a utility player on the grid. The genre can premiere on many corridors, yield a quick sell for marketing and reels, and outperform with fans that turn out on Thursday nights and stick through the second frame if the offering fires. Exiting a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores assurance in that dynamic. The year launches with a weighty January run, then targets spring into early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a September to October window that extends to late October and into post-Halloween. The gridline also highlights the increasing integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can platform a title, ignite recommendations, and grow at the proper time.

An added macro current is series management across ongoing universes and classic IP. Studios are not just mounting another installment. They are aiming to frame continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that connects a incoming chapter to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing physical effects work, real effects and distinct locales. That pairing delivers 2026 a solid mix of known notes and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount establishes early momentum with two prominent entries that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, positioning the film as both a handoff and a heritage-centered relationship-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a legacy-leaning bent without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on recognizable motifs, first images of characters, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is efficient, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that turns into a dangerous lover. The date slots it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to iterate on eerie street stunts and micro spots that hybridizes affection and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a name unveil to become an headline beat closer to the first trailer. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His projects are presented as auteur events, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The pre-Halloween slot offers Universal room to lead 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning execution can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror hit that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, continuing a consistent supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is framing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both devotees and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around world-building, and creature builds, elements that can drive premium booking interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror built on textural authenticity and textual fidelity, this time engaging werewolf myth. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a stair-step that fortifies both launch urgency and trial spikes in the tail. Prime Video combines acquired titles with worldwide entries and select theatrical runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in archive usage, using curated hubs, horror hubs, and curated rows to keep attention on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival pickups, securing horror entries near their drops and framing as events rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a tiered of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that translates talk to trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a discrete basis. The platform has indicated interest to invest in select projects with established auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 arc with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, updated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a big-screen first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then working the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-first horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception allows. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using targeted theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Series vs standalone

By share, the 2026 slate leans toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The practical approach is to brand each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is bringing forward character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-tinted vision from a emerging director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the bundle is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent-year comps illuminate the method. In 2023, a cinema-first model that maintained windows did not deter a day-date try from paying off when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror surged in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without long breaks.

Production craft signals

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate indicate a continued lean toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that highlights tone and tension rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta refresh that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature and environment design, which align with booth activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is packed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the menu of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a early fall window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card spend.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s AI companion grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a altering 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. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her prickly boss push to survive on a uninhabited island as the control dynamic flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, founded on Cronin’s on-set craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting piece that pipes the unease through a kid’s wavering perspective. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A send-up revival that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 ignites, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family caught in past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival check over here horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving forward. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and elemental dread. Rating: pending. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 and why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will compete across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 disciplined-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 shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Anticipate a robust 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns 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 escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual 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.

A Promising 2026

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is recognizable IP where it plays, 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.