Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

One frightening otherworldly terror film from literary architect / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an timeless malevolence when foreigners become tools in a demonic maze. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking story of survival and age-old darkness that will reconstruct the fear genre this Halloween season. Realized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and immersive screenplay follows five individuals who find themselves stuck in a hidden hideaway under the sinister power of Kyra, a cursed figure controlled by a 2,000-year-old biblical force. Anticipate to be drawn in by a visual ride that integrates gut-punch terror with legendary tales, dropping on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a recurring motif in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is challenged when the demons no longer originate from an outside force, but rather from deep inside. This embodies the darkest side of each of them. The result is a edge-of-seat mental war where the drama becomes a constant conflict between divinity and wickedness.


In a forsaken woodland, five friends find themselves cornered under the unholy effect and inhabitation of a elusive female presence. As the victims becomes vulnerable to combat her influence, stranded and hunted by powers ungraspable, they are compelled to battle their emotional phantoms while the deathwatch ruthlessly strikes toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease grows and ties collapse, urging each member to scrutinize their character and the idea of volition itself. The cost climb with every beat, delivering a chilling narrative that weaves together ghostly evil with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to tap into core terror, an threat born of forgotten ages, manifesting in emotional vulnerability, and examining a being that redefines identity when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra was about accessing something beyond human emotion. She is insensitive until the evil takes hold, and that pivot is bone-chilling because it is so personal.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing fans anywhere can witness this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original clip, which has garnered over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Don’t miss this soul-jarring trip into the unknown. Stream *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to explore these unholy truths about our species.


For cast commentary, on-set glimpses, and promotions from the story's source, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit the movie portal.





Modern horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 season U.S. Slate blends primeval-possession lore, signature indie scares, plus series shake-ups

Beginning with grit-forward survival fare inspired by biblical myth through to canon extensions set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is shaping up as the most dimensioned paired with carefully orchestrated year of the last decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios lay down anchors with established lines, in parallel digital services crowd the fall with fresh voices paired with primordial unease. On the festival side, independent banners is riding the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are intentional, thus 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s distribution arm fires the first shot with a statement play: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. set 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 adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Under Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

When summer fades, Warner’s schedule launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson returns, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, along with eerie supernatural rules. The stakes escalate here, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, reaching teens and game grownups. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale led 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. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

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

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a smart play. No overinflated mythology. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

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

Streamers grow fangs
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The approaching terror season: next chapters, universe starters, alongside A Crowded Calendar Built For nightmares

Dek: The emerging horror slate loads early with a January glut, following that extends through the mid-year, and well into the December corridor, fusing brand equity, inventive spins, and calculated alternatives. Studios and platforms are leaning into right-sized spends, box-office-first windows, and short-form initiatives that pivot the slate’s entries into all-audience topics.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This space has emerged as the steady swing in annual schedules, a category that can spike when it resonates and still insulate the drag when it stumbles. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for leaders that lean-budget shockers can own the discourse, the following year continued the surge with buzzy auteur projects and quiet over-performers. The momentum translated to 2025, where returns and premium-leaning entries proved there is space for multiple flavors, from series extensions to filmmaker-driven originals that translate worldwide. The aggregate for 2026 is a roster that seems notably aligned across the industry, with obvious clusters, a pairing of brand names and original hooks, and a sharpened strategy on box-office windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the category now functions as a swing piece on the rollout map. The genre can roll out on most weekends, furnish a tight logline for teasers and UGC-friendly snippets, and overperform with audiences that appear on first-look nights and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the title pays off. Following a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm shows conviction in that equation. The slate gets underway with a weighty January lineup, then taps spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a late-year stretch that carries into the fright window and into early November. The schedule also illustrates the stronger partnership of specialized labels and home platforms that can platform a title, spark evangelism, and roll out at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is IP stewardship across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Studios are not just making another follow-up. They are looking to package story carry-over with a marquee sheen, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a recalibrated tone or a ensemble decision that bridges a fresh chapter to a vintage era. At the simultaneously, the visionaries behind the most watched originals are celebrating real-world builds, real effects and site-specific worlds. That combination hands the 2026 slate a lively combination of trust and freshness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount defines the early cadence with two centerpiece plays that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, setting it up as both a lineage transfer and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a classic-referencing treatment without looping the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push leaning on iconic art, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mainstream recognition through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is simple, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date places it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to recreate uncanny-valley stunts and short reels that melds companionship and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a name unveil to become an attention spike closer to the initial promo. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele titles are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second trailer wave that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to saturate 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a flesh-and-blood, physical-effects centered mix can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Expect a grime-caked summer horror charge that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio places two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch moves forward. 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 restarts 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 mission to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke format premiums and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in minute detail and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is glowing.

Digital platform strategies

Platform plans for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal titles window into copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ordering that maximizes both first-week urgency and subscription Source bumps in the later window. Prime Video will mix third-party pickups with cross-border buys and small theatrical windows when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using curated hubs, horror hubs, and handpicked rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival buys, timing horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops drops with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a tiered of focused cinema runs and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to take on select projects with prestige directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation heats up.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 lane with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, updated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to scale. That positioning has helped for director-led genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception supports. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their user base.

Franchises versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The question, as ever, is staleness. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a continental coloration from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the team and cast is steady enough to generate pre-sales and early previews.

The last three-year set frame the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a dual release from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror surged in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they change perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 chapters lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to hold creative in the market without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind this year’s genre suggest a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that spotlights texture and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta-horror reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which fit with convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is loaded. 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 foggy reset amid marquee brands. The month winds down 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 formidable, but the tonal variety ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring stage summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a shoulder season window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s algorithmic partner grows into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss scramble to survive on a cut-off island as the control dynamic turns and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to nightmare, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting premise that refracts terror through a young child’s uncertain subjective view. Rating: TBD. Production: in the can. 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 parody return that lampoons today’s horror trends and true crime fervors. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 bursts, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further extends again, with a new household snared by past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-core horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and raw menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, 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 preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient placements, 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 visual texture, soundcraft, 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.

2026 Looks Exciting

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite 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, shape lean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.