Primeval Dread Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling chiller, debuting Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One haunting ghostly horror tale from creator / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial dread when outsiders become subjects in a devilish ceremony. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish saga of perseverance and mythic evil that will resculpt the horror genre this Halloween season. Realized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and gothic fearfest follows five lost souls who awaken imprisoned in a off-grid shelter under the malignant command of Kyra, a young woman haunted by a antiquated scriptural evil. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a narrative adventure that integrates deep-seated panic with legendary tales, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a enduring element in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is radically shifted when the presences no longer form from beyond, but rather inside them. This depicts the shadowy side of these individuals. The result is a psychologically brutal psychological battle where the conflict becomes a ongoing conflict between heaven and hell.


In a bleak woodland, five teens find themselves imprisoned under the unholy aura and domination of a obscure figure. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to reject her control, cut off and attacked by creatures impossible to understand, they are driven to face their deepest fears while the doomsday meter relentlessly counts down toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease intensifies and ties fracture, pushing each cast member to reflect on their personhood and the nature of personal agency itself. The stakes grow with every breath, delivering a frightening tale that intertwines otherworldly panic with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke elemental fright, an power beyond time, manipulating mental cracks, and challenging a being that peels away humanity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant channeling something beneath mortal despair. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that metamorphosis is bone-chilling because it is so close.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—providing audiences worldwide can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its intro video, which has been viewed over six-figure audience.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, bringing the film to scare fans abroad.


Join this cinematic ride through nightmares. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to dive into these ghostly lessons about free will.


For director insights, production insights, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the official digital haunt.





The horror genre’s major pivot: 2025 domestic schedule integrates legend-infused possession, microbudget gut-punches, plus IP aftershocks

Across survival horror rooted in near-Eastern lore and extending to series comebacks in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 looks like the most complex in tandem with blueprinted year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios lay down anchors by way of signature titles, while premium streamers front-load the fall with new voices set against ancient terrors. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is propelled by the uplift of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween holding the peak, the other windows are mapped with care. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are targeted, therefore 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm fires the first shot with a headline swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. 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.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer wanes, the WB camp drops the final chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson returns to the helm, and those signature textures resurface: nostalgic menace, trauma foregrounded, and a cold supernatural calculus. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The return delves further into myth, stretches the animatronic parade, speaking to teens and older millennials. It lands in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a close quarters body horror study starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. 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.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

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 is an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No continuity burden. 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 Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror ascends again
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming scare Year Ahead: Sequels, Originals, in tandem with A hectic Calendar geared toward screams

Dek: The current genre slate clusters in short order with a January crush, then extends through summer corridors, and deep into the festive period, weaving franchise firepower, original angles, and well-timed release strategy. Distributors with platforms are relying on tight budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and buzz-forward plans that elevate these releases into cross-demo moments.

How the genre looks for 2026

The horror sector has grown into the sturdy lever in studio calendars, a corner that can grow when it performs and still safeguard the losses when it under-delivers. After 2023 re-taught top brass that lean-budget shockers can own cultural conversation, the following year extended the rally with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The energy flowed into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and critical darlings underscored there is space for many shades, from returning installments to fresh IP that carry overseas. The combined impact for 2026 is a slate that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with clear date clusters, a blend of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a recommitted emphasis on theater exclusivity that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Marketers add the horror lane now acts as a wildcard on the rollout map. Horror can debut on many corridors, furnish a grabby hook for marketing and social clips, and outperform with audiences that lean in on advance nights and stick through the week two if the film pays off. Coming out of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 rhythm reflects comfort in that playbook. The year rolls out with a front-loaded January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a fall corridor that carries into spooky season and past the holiday. The program also spotlights the ongoing integration of indie distributors and platforms that can nurture a platform play, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the proper time.

An added macro current is series management across ongoing universes and long-running brands. Studios are not just mounting another chapter. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a latest entry to a early run. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the high-profile originals are leaning into material texture, real effects and distinct locales. That pairing delivers 2026 a lively combination of known notes and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight pushes that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the focus, presenting it as both a handoff and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the authorial approach points to a roots-evoking treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run fueled by signature symbols, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm targeting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will chase large awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick redirects to whatever tops the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three specific plays. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, tragic, and concept-forward: a grieving man activates an digital partner that escalates into a lethal partner. The date positions it at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s promo team likely to renew strange in-person beats and short-form creative that mixes devotion and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under early 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 branding reveal to become an marketing beat closer to the initial tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are framed as creative events, with a minimalist tease and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning mix can feel premium on a lean spend. Look for a splatter summer horror hit that embraces worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio mounts two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a bankable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is framing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and fresh viewers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build materials around world-building, and creature design, elements that can amplify format premiums and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by minute detail and period speech, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is supportive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform windowing in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The studio’s horror films move to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that amplifies both debut momentum and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video pairs outside acquisitions with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in back-catalog play, using well-timed internal promotions, seasonal hubs, and editorial rows to maximize the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about first-party entries and festival buys, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and elevating as drops releases with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a per-project basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to buy select projects with established auteurs or star packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 sequence with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is direct: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the year-end corridor to scale. That positioning has shown results for arthouse horror with four-quadrant hopes. 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 sound expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception allows. Expect 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 as partners, using small theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Series vs standalone

By share, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness legacy awareness. The challenge, as ever, is viewer burnout. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is emphasizing character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the packaging is anchored enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Comps from the last three years frame the plan. In 2023, a cinema-first model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a hybrid test from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror popped in premium large format. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and scale the storytelling. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, lets marketing to thread films through character spine and themes and to keep assets in-market without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The shop talk behind the year’s horror hint at a continued turn toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights creep and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and generates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta-horror reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which fit with fan conventions and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel definitive. Look for trailers that underscore hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that land in premium houses.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. Universal’s 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 atmospheric change-up amid headline IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the palette of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth endures.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-first teaser plan More about the author and limited disclosures that favor idea over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can play the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. 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 claw to survive on a rugged island as the power balance of power turns and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, anchored by Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 home-set haunting piece that mediates the fear via a youth’s wavering POV. Rating: pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-crafted and A-list fronted occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody return that riffs on today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 spreads, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new family bound to past 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: TBD. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: TBA. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or reshuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and pared-down 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming landings. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate bite-size scare clips from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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 aggressive PLF bookings 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, audio design, and cinematography that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the gasps sell the seats.