Primordial Evil Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across global platforms

A bone-chilling metaphysical nightmare movie from creator / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an long-buried malevolence when drifters become vehicles in a cursed experiment. Streaming this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful portrayal of staying alive and timeless dread that will reshape horror this October. Guided by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and moody tale follows five lost souls who are stirred stranded in a remote house under the sinister will of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Get ready to be shaken by a screen-based adventure that unites deep-seated panic with arcane tradition, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a well-established tradition in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the dark entities no longer descend from a different plane, but rather within themselves. This echoes the most sinister version of all involved. The result is a relentless mental war where the drama becomes a soul-crushing contest between divinity and wickedness.


In a forsaken forest, five adults find themselves trapped under the fiendish presence and haunting of a obscure figure. As the team becomes unresisting to combat her will, cut off and stalked by spirits impossible to understand, they are cornered to encounter their darkest emotions while the final hour brutally counts down toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear surges and alliances erode, demanding each survivor to challenge their existence and the idea of liberty itself. The cost intensify with every passing moment, delivering a terror ride that integrates occult fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to explore primitive panic, an threat older than civilization itself, influencing human fragility, and examining a curse that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is blind until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is terrifying because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing customers anywhere can experience this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first preview, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, offering the tale to horror fans worldwide.


Mark your calendar for this haunted descent into darkness. Confront *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to explore these terrifying truths about the mind.


For teasers, behind-the-scenes content, and insider scoops via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit our spooky domain.





The horror genre’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. Slate blends Mythic Possession, festival-born jolts, in parallel with IP aftershocks

Beginning with life-or-death fear inspired by ancient scripture through to legacy revivals together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex plus strategic year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors hold down the year with franchise anchors, in tandem streaming platforms saturate the fall with emerging auteurs as well as mythic dread. On the independent axis, independent banners is drafting behind the backdraft of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, so 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium genre swings back

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner opens the year with a big gambit: a reimagined Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a modern-day environment. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re teams, and the tone that worked before is intact: old school creep, trauma as narrative engine, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The bar is raised this go, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It arrives in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Digital Originals: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated mythology. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The next fright release year: follow-ups, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek: The arriving genre slate clusters from the jump with a January logjam, thereafter flows through summer, and well into the year-end corridor, mixing series momentum, new voices, and strategic offsets. The big buyers and platforms are embracing cost discipline, theater-first strategies, and shareable marketing that frame the slate’s entries into cross-demo moments.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has solidified as the surest counterweight in studio slates, a vertical that can grow when it connects and still limit the exposure when it underperforms. After the 2023 year re-taught greenlighters that efficiently budgeted pictures can drive audience talk, 2024 maintained heat with filmmaker-forward plays and surprise hits. The run rolled into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and awards-minded projects confirmed there is an opening for several lanes, from continued chapters to fresh IP that travel well. The upshot for 2026 is a roster that is strikingly coherent across the industry, with intentional bunching, a balance of known properties and novel angles, and a sharpened stance on exclusive windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and platforms.

Insiders argue the space now behaves like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can arrive on numerous frames, yield a tight logline for promo reels and vertical videos, and outperform with audiences that respond on early shows and keep coming through the subsequent weekend if the release works. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence signals certainty in that model. The calendar begins with a front-loaded January stretch, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a fall cadence that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The calendar also includes the tightening integration of specialty distributors and OTT outlets that can grow from platform, spark evangelism, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A companion trend is brand curation across connected story worlds and long-running brands. The companies are not just pushing another next film. They are moving to present brand continuity with a specialness, whether that is a logo package that telegraphs a tonal shift or a cast configuration that binds a upcoming film to a early run. At the same time, the creative leads behind the headline-grabbing originals are doubling down on tactile craft, practical effects and location-forward worlds. That blend provides 2026 a healthy mix of known notes and novelty, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate projects that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the center, marketing it as both a passing of the torch and a heritage-centered relationship-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance telegraphs a throwback-friendly approach without rehashing the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Count on a promo wave leaning on heritage visuals, early character teases, and a trailer cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will build wide appeal through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever dominates the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined entries. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, somber, and commercial: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that turns into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to iterate on uncanny-valley stunts and brief clips that fuses devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a proper title to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as signature events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date offers Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a visceral, in-camera leaning aesthetic can feel big on a moderate cost. Look for a splatter summer horror shock that spotlights overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio mounts two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both franchise faithful and new audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build marketing units around mythos, and practical creature work, elements that can drive premium booking interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by meticulous craft and period language, this time circling werewolf lore. The distributor has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is warm.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Windowing plans in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries head to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a stair-step that maximizes both initial urgency and platform bumps in the later window. Prime Video combines catalogue additions with international acquisitions and limited cinema engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library engagement, using prominent placements, fright rows, and staff picks to lengthen the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival wins, timing horror entries tight to release and making event-like go-lives with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a staged of limited theatrical footprints and quick platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with top-tier auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation peaks.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-driven genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception allows. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using boutique theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchises versus originals

By number, 2026 tilts in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The preferred tactic is to sell each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is foregrounding character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-flavored turn from a buzzed-about director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and auteur plays deliver 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-thriller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the bundle is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps illuminate the plan. In 2023, a cinema-first model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a dual release from succeeding when the brand was powerful. In 2024, director-craft horror punched above its weight in PLF. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre telegraph a continued preference for practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers its original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature craft and set design, which play well in con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Annual flow

January is busy. 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 tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth persists.

February through May stage summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a pre-October slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a slow-reveal plan and limited advance reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being click to read more revealed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s intelligent companion becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss battle to survive on a lonely island as the power balance of power upends and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, driven by Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting scenario that mediates the fear via a preteen’s uneven personal vantage. Rating: TBD. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-crafted and name-above-title supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satirical comeback that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime crazes. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new family tethered to past horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 elemental menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 stealth-hit search 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, acoustics, and picture 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 Robust 2026 On Deck

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the chills sell the seats.