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

One haunting supernatural terror film from storyteller / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an age-old entity when outsiders become vehicles in a dark game. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking portrayal of resilience and forgotten curse that will transform fear-driven cinema this Halloween season. Visualized by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and atmospheric tale follows five strangers who awaken stranded in a cut-off shack under the malevolent control of Kyra, a mysterious girl inhabited by a legendary sacred-era entity. Steel yourself to be shaken by a filmic journey that harmonizes bodily fright with ancient myths, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a legendary foundation in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is challenged when the fiends no longer originate from external sources, but rather inside their minds. This represents the deepest shade of the group. The result is a harrowing spiritual tug-of-war where the events becomes a constant push-pull between virtue and vice.


In a abandoned backcountry, five figures find themselves marooned under the fiendish presence and infestation of a mysterious female presence. As the team becomes powerless to reject her curse, stranded and targeted by beings unfathomable, they are forced to stand before their darkest emotions while the clock ruthlessly moves toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust intensifies and teams collapse, compelling each member to challenge their identity and the principle of free will itself. The pressure intensify with every fleeting time, delivering a horror experience that weaves together otherworldly panic with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to draw upon ancestral fear, an curse born of forgotten ages, feeding on our fears, and navigating a curse that challenges autonomy when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra demanded embodying something unfamiliar to reason. She is oblivious until the entity awakens, and that evolution is eerie because it is so internal.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing subscribers no matter where they are can watch this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its initial teaser, which has attracted over a viral response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, presenting the nightmare to thrill-seekers globally.


Don’t miss this mind-warping path of possession. Confront *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to confront these haunting secrets about the human condition.


For previews, special features, and announcements via the production team, follow @YACFilm across platforms and visit the movie portal.





Today’s horror watershed moment: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts weaves Mythic Possession, signature indie scares, alongside franchise surges

Moving from grit-forward survival fare drawn from scriptural legend and extending to returning series plus acutely observed indies, 2025 is emerging as the most dimensioned plus carefully orchestrated year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. top-tier distributors set cornerstones through proven series, while streaming platforms saturate the fall with unboxed visions plus archetypal fear. On the festival side, independent banners is fueled by the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are calculated, as a result 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium genre swings back

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

the Universal banner sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Led by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Steered by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer fades, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: retro dread, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It drops in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a room scale body horror descent including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. From writer director 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. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No overinflated mythology. No IP hangover. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are more runway than museum.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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

Trend Lines

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

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

SVOD originals harden up
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The 2026 fear slate: returning titles, new stories, as well as A Crowded Calendar optimized for Scares

Dek The brand-new genre cycle crams at the outset with a January glut, thereafter carries through the warm months, and far into the winter holidays, combining franchise firepower, original angles, and calculated calendar placement. The big buyers and platforms are betting on right-sized spends, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that convert genre releases into mainstream chatter.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The genre has shown itself to be the sturdy lever in release strategies, a category that can grow when it performs and still protect the losses when it stumbles. After the 2023 year proved to decision-makers that lean-budget chillers can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 held pace with filmmaker-forward plays and surprise hits. The upswing carried into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and elevated films demonstrated there is demand for a spectrum, from legacy continuations to non-IP projects that travel well. The upshot for 2026 is a programming that reads highly synchronized across distributors, with defined corridors, a combination of marquee IP and untested plays, and a renewed eye on big-screen windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Executives say the category now functions as a flex slot on the release plan. Horror can kick off on almost any weekend, deliver a sharp concept for previews and shorts, and outpace with ticket buyers that lean in on Thursday previews and keep coming through the follow-up frame if the title connects. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 layout exhibits certainty in that engine. The year launches with a front-loaded January stretch, then primes spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while keeping space for a October build that pushes into late October and into post-Halloween. The calendar also illustrates the tightening integration of indie distributors and streamers that can stage a platform run, build word of mouth, and expand at the precise moment.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across ongoing universes and storied titles. Distribution groups are not just mounting another continuation. They are aiming to frame story carry-over with a marquee sheen, whether that is a brandmark that flags a tonal shift or a lead change that binds a incoming chapter to a initial period. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the most watched originals are doubling down on hands-on technique, physical gags and grounded locations. That combination affords the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and novelty, which is what works overseas.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount defines the early cadence with two spotlight entries that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the core, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach telegraphs a nostalgia-forward mode without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign fueled by signature symbols, first images of characters, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will build wide appeal through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick switches to whatever owns the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three defined entries. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tidy, grief-rooted, and premise-first: a grieving man implements an digital partner that escalates into a deadly partner. The date slots it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to recreate uncanny live moments and micro spots that hybridizes companionship and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His entries are branded as must-see filmmaker statements, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a visceral, physical-effects centered strategy can feel elevated on a controlled budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror jolt that emphasizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio rolls out two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is billing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both players and general audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around environmental design, and practical creature work, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake 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 advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and archaic language, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is supportive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform windowing in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a cadence that elevates both launch urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with cross-border buys and limited runs in theaters when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, fright rows, and programmed rows to sustain interest on overall cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival deals, timing horror entries tight to release and staging as events debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has signaled readiness to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is no-nonsense: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, elevated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to move out. That positioning has worked well for prestige horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Watch for 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 hand in hand, using mini theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their community.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, 2026 skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate cultural cachet. The trade-off, as ever, is fatigue. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French sensibility from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is known enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps contextualize the logic. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a dual release from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they pivot perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with this content chapters filmed in sequence, allows marketing to tie installments through relationships and themes and to keep assets in-market without long breaks.

Production craft signals

The creative meetings behind this year’s genre suggest a continued bias toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that foregrounds texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature and environment design, which fit with fan conventions and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that center disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month closes 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 stiff, but the variety of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Post-January through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion escalates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. this page Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss push to survive on a remote island as the power balance swivels and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fear, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting setup that pipes the unease through a young child’s volatile POV. Rating: TBD. Production: picture-locked. 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 parody reboot that satirizes today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. 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 breaks out, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: pending. Production: underway. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three hands-on forces define this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous 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 launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest bite-size scare clips from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, making room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where 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 maximize those pockets. 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sound field, and camera work 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, guard the secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.