Ancient Malevolence surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling feature, launching October 2025 across major platforms

An blood-curdling occult thriller from writer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic dread when outsiders become tools in a malevolent contest. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing saga of struggle and archaic horror that will reconstruct terror storytelling this harvest season. Produced by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and claustrophobic feature follows five people who wake up isolated in a wilderness-bound hideaway under the dark rule of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a 2,000-year-old scriptural evil. Prepare to be enthralled by a theatrical venture that integrates soul-chilling terror with mythic lore, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a historical fixture in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is challenged when the entities no longer descend outside the characters, but rather internally. This embodies the haunting element of each of them. The result is a bone-chilling moral showdown where the events becomes a unforgiving clash between heaven and hell.


In a desolate backcountry, five figures find themselves caught under the sinister force and inhabitation of a uncanny being. As the group becomes incapacitated to deny her curse, severed and hunted by beings ungraspable, they are compelled to reckon with their worst nightmares while the doomsday meter mercilessly moves toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension rises and relationships collapse, prompting each character to reflect on their being and the foundation of independent thought itself. The threat amplify with every second, delivering a paranormal ride that merges otherworldly suspense with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dig into instinctual horror, an presence from prehistory, emerging via our fears, and navigating a spirit that threatens selfhood when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra was centered on something beneath mortal despair. She is blind until the curse activates, and that evolution is eerie because it is so internal.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be released for streaming beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving horror lovers from coast to coast can survive this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first preview, which has pulled in over a viral response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, delivering the story to scare fans abroad.


Tune in for this cinematic exploration of dread. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to dive into these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For exclusive trailers, behind-the-scenes content, and press updates from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s tipping point: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar interlaces old-world possession, festival-born jolts, together with IP aftershocks

Beginning with fight-to-live nightmare stories rooted in ancient scripture as well as series comebacks plus focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into the genre’s most multifaceted in tandem with carefully orchestrated year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors are anchoring the year through proven series, concurrently OTT services flood the fall with unboxed visions paired with ancestral chills. On the independent axis, the independent cohort is catching the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are assertive. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline fires the first shot with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a modern-day environment. Steered by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer wanes, Warner Bros. Pictures unveils the final movement within its surest horror brand: 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, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma as text, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This run ups the stakes, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: 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

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in 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. That is a savvy move. No bloated mythology. No continuity burden. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy IP: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic currents go 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 pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror resurges
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forecast: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming fright calendar year ahead: returning titles, non-franchise titles, in tandem with A loaded Calendar optimized for frights

Dek The incoming terror calendar crams in short order with a January wave, thereafter extends through summer, and well into the holidays, weaving name recognition, creative pitches, and shrewd calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that turn these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror marketplace has shown itself to be the most reliable lever in distribution calendars, a lane that can break out when it lands and still hedge the risk when it doesn’t. After 2023 signaled to buyers that disciplined-budget pictures can shape the national conversation, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The carry fed into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers demonstrated there is space for varied styles, from returning installments to original features that play globally. The net effect for 2026 is a programming that is strikingly coherent across distributors, with clear date clusters, a pairing of brand names and untested plays, and a revived eye on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Planners observe the space now serves as a versatile piece on the rollout map. The genre can premiere on almost any weekend, offer a tight logline for creative and platform-native cuts, and outpace with ticket buyers that appear on first-look nights and maintain momentum through the second weekend if the feature pays off. In the wake of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 rhythm indicates belief in that playbook. The slate commences with a stacked January run, then leans on spring and early summer for alternate plays, while keeping space for a autumn push that carries into Halloween and past the holiday. The calendar also highlights the ongoing integration of indie distributors and SVOD players that can develop over weeks, spark evangelism, and go nationwide at the right moment.

A further high-level trend is legacy care across unified worlds and established properties. Distribution groups are not just releasing another follow-up. They are working to present brand continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title presentation that broadcasts a re-angled tone or a cast configuration that reconnects a latest entry to a vintage era. At the simultaneously, the writer-directors behind the marquee originals are returning to in-camera technique, makeup and prosthetics and concrete locations. That mix gives 2026 a vital pairing of comfort and novelty, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount sets the tone early with two prominent entries that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the lead, signaling it as both a baton pass and a DNA-forward character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach hints at a nostalgia-forward strategy without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. A campaign is expected rooted in heritage visuals, character spotlights, and a two-beat trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will feature. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is efficient, melancholic, and easily pitched: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and short reels that melds devotion and anxiety.

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 dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title drop to become an teaser payoff closer to the opening teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele projects are framed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a concept-forward tease and a later trailer push that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-month date allows Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs 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 visceral, in-camera leaning method can feel top-tier on a tight budget. Frame it as a hard-R summer horror surge that spotlights international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio mounts two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a reliable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in click site what the studio is selling as a clean-slate approach 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 clearer mandate to serve both franchise faithful and fresh viewers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build artifacts around world-building, and monster craft, elements that can accelerate premium booking interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s great post to read run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and period speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. The imprint has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform plans for 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films window into copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a cadence that optimizes both launch urgency and subscriber lifts in the later phase. Prime Video blends third-party pickups with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in catalog discovery, using featured rows, seasonal hubs, and staff picks to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps options open about originals and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops rollouts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a two-step of targeted theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a situational basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with name filmmakers or headline-cast packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 lane 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 sell is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, reimagined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical rollout for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, escorting the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has served the company well for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Brands and originals

By share, the 2026 slate favors the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is overexposure. The practical approach is to position each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is elevating character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the deal build is recognizable enough to drive advance ticketing and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that held distribution windows did not foreclose a dual release from performing when the brand was robust. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in premium screens. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, builds a path for marketing to link the films through protagonists and motifs and to leave creative active without lulls.

Technique and craft currents

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 slate forecast a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates grain and menace rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta pivot that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster aesthetics and world-building, which align with fan conventions and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel must-have. Look for trailers that spotlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that play in premium auditoriums.

Annual flow

January is packed. Universal’s 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 marquee brands. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a transitional slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited pre-release reveals that center concept over reveals.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate unfolds into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 difficult boss fight to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order shifts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to menace, driven by Cronin’s practical effects and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 closed-door haunting tale that mediates the fear via a kid’s flickering personal vantage. Rating: to be announced. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-built and toplined eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A parody return that targets today’s horror trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 erupts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a unlucky family tethered to residual nightmares. Rating: forthcoming. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBD. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 language and raw menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces organize this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will coexist across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where modest-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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats 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 endorse the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sound field, 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 Looks Exciting

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is useful reference established. There is brand gravity where needed, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.