Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One unnerving metaphysical thriller from scriptwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an forgotten horror when guests become instruments in a fiendish maze. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing portrayal of resilience and prehistoric entity that will reshape the horror genre this fall. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and atmospheric film follows five figures who snap to ensnared in a wooded dwelling under the dark will of Kyra, a female lead haunted by a antiquated religious nightmare. Be warned to be gripped by a visual display that intertwines visceral dread with arcane tradition, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a recurring foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is subverted when the fiends no longer emerge from an outside force, but rather internally. This symbolizes the darkest corner of these individuals. The result is a intense identity crisis where the tension becomes a brutal conflict between righteousness and malevolence.


In a barren natural abyss, five figures find themselves confined under the ghastly grip and control of a unknown figure. As the group becomes defenseless to evade her command, disconnected and stalked by creatures unfathomable, they are pushed to face their raw vulnerabilities while the doomsday meter without pause ticks onward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and ties splinter, pushing each individual to examine their character and the idea of personal agency itself. The risk rise with every tick, delivering a scare-fueled ride that connects paranormal dread with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to evoke core terror, an darkness older than civilization itself, operating within fragile psyche, and dealing with a entity that threatens selfhood when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra needed manifesting something darker than pain. She is blind until the takeover begins, and that transformation is bone-chilling because it is so personal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for viewing beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that streamers everywhere can get immersed in this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first preview, which has racked up over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, extending the thrill to viewers around the world.


Join this heart-stopping exploration of dread. Confront *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these haunting secrets about our species.


For director insights, behind-the-scenes content, and news from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your favorite networks and visit the movie portal.





Today’s horror watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans domestic schedule melds biblical-possession ideas, underground frights, and brand-name tremors

Moving from grit-forward survival fare rooted in near-Eastern lore and including brand-name continuations alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into horror’s most layered in tandem with precision-timed year for the modern era.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. top-tier distributors bookend the months by way of signature titles, even as OTT services pack the fall with unboxed visions as well as scriptural shivers. On the festival side, the independent cohort is carried on the kinetic energy of a peak 2024 circuit. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are exacting, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the base, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures releases the last chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson again directs, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, and eerie supernatural logic. This time, the stakes are raised, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

SVOD Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Shaped and helmed 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. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in 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 a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Brands: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, 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.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror comes roaring back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forecast: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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 must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The next genre calendar year ahead: installments, non-franchise titles, in tandem with A Crowded Calendar designed for shocks

Dek The arriving horror calendar stacks from day one with a January bottleneck, after that spreads through summer corridors, and straight through the holidays, blending franchise firepower, untold stories, and shrewd counterprogramming. Distributors with platforms are focusing on smart costs, theatrical exclusivity first, and shareable marketing that transform horror entries into national conversation.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror filmmaking has become the surest lever in release plans, a lane that can accelerate when it performs and still hedge the floor when it doesn’t. After 2023 proved to buyers that disciplined-budget horror vehicles can drive the national conversation, the following year held pace with signature-voice projects and word-of-mouth wins. The upswing extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and premium-leaning entries highlighted there is an opening for varied styles, from series extensions to original one-offs that carry overseas. The sum for 2026 is a slate that feels more orchestrated than usual across companies, with defined corridors, a balance of legacy names and original hooks, and a re-energized eye on release windows that drive downstream revenue on paid VOD and home platforms.

Marketers add the category now performs as a schedule utility on the programming map. The genre can launch on almost any weekend, offer a clear pitch for promo reels and UGC-friendly snippets, and outpace with audiences that come out on opening previews and sustain through the follow-up frame if the entry delivers. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 cadence indicates belief in that approach. The slate opens with a stacked January stretch, then targets spring into early summer for genre counterpoints, while leaving room for a October build that pushes into spooky season and into early November. The arrangement also reflects the continuing integration of specialized labels and streaming partners that can develop over weeks, create conversation, and scale up at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across linked properties and legacy franchises. The players are not just releasing another continuation. They are looking to package connection with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that flags a refreshed voice or a talent selection that connects a next film to a early run. At the in tandem, the directors behind the high-profile originals are championing material texture, in-camera effects and concrete locations. That fusion yields the 2026 slate a lively combination of comfort and surprise, which is what works overseas.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount leads early with two headline releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the lead, marketing it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character-focused installment. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach signals a classic-referencing treatment without covering again the last two entries’ sibling arc. Expect a marketing push leaning on franchise iconography, intro reveals, and a promo sequence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build wide buzz through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick adjustments to whatever dominates horror talk that spring.

Universal has three unique pushes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is elegant, loss-driven, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man activates an virtual partner that mutates into a deadly partner. The date nudges it to the front of a busy month, with the Universal machine likely to reprise uncanny-valley stunts and bite-size content that melds companionship and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under development 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 preserves a proper title to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s work are sold as filmmaker events, with a minimalist tease and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The prime October weekend allows Universal to dominate 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has proven that a blood-soaked, physical-effects centered method can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror blast that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio sets two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, get redirected here carrying a trusty supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is positioning as a reset 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 mission to serve both loyalists and first-timers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build assets around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can stoke PLF interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by immersive craft and period language, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming windows and tactics

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre entries land on copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a structure that enhances both FOMO and sign-up momentum in the downstream. Prime Video continues to mix outside acquisitions with international acquisitions and small theatrical windows when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library engagement, using editorial spots, genre hubs, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps flexible about Netflix originals and festival wins, securing horror entries near launch and coalescing around drops with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a staged of focused cinema runs and accelerated platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with established auteurs or star packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, recalibrated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday slot to go wider. That positioning has helped for arthouse horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception drives. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using small theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchise entries versus originals

By number, 2026 leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap household recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The pragmatic answer is to present each entry as a new angle. Paramount is foregrounding character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the deal build is recognizable enough to build pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the template. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not block a day-date try from succeeding when the brand was potent. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they reorient and stretch the story. 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 two-step approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character spine and themes and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

Technique and craft currents

The filmmaking conversations behind these films signal a continued turn toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that underscores mood and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a preview that keeps plot minimal, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and spurs shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which match well with fan conventions and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel compelling. Look for trailers that accent fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that explode in larger rooms.

The schedule at a glance

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 tonal palate cleanser amid marquee brands. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the mix of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Early-year through spring prepare summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can hit 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 shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited teasers that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s AI companion turns into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

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 warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 difficult boss claw to survive on a desolate island as the power balance flips and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to terror, founded on Cronin’s practical craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 family-home haunting piece that frames the panic through a child’s uneven subjective lens. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that satirizes present-day genre chatter and true-crime crazes. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new clan tethered to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-driven horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 era-accurate language and bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy this website (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three grounded forces inform this lineup. First, production that eased or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

There is also the slotting calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 chase continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, acoustics, and cinematography 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the shudders sell the seats.