Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up antediluvian malevolence, a spine tingling feature, launching October 2025 across major platforms

One frightening paranormal horror tale from author / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an archaic horror when unfamiliar people become vehicles in a supernatural trial. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing story of living through and forgotten curse that will transform the horror genre this season. Brought to life by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and cinematic cinema piece follows five figures who emerge ensnared in a remote hideaway under the ominous grip of Kyra, a troubled woman occupied by a two-thousand-year-old holy text monster. Arm yourself to be enthralled by a visual journey that melds bone-deep fear with biblical origins, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a time-honored fixture in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is redefined when the spirits no longer come from external sources, but rather inside them. This embodies the malevolent corner of the cast. The result is a bone-chilling internal warfare where the drama becomes a relentless push-pull between right and wrong.


In a barren terrain, five young people find themselves imprisoned under the malicious influence and grasp of a elusive apparition. As the survivors becomes incapacitated to oppose her curse, stranded and stalked by unknowns unimaginable, they are confronted to confront their inner demons while the moments harrowingly pushes forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia deepens and relationships break, compelling each protagonist to challenge their personhood and the nature of conscious will itself. The intensity intensify with every short lapse, delivering a cinematic nightmare that weaves together paranormal dread with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to extract core terror, an darkness older than civilization itself, filtering through soul-level flaws, and challenging a will that challenges autonomy when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra was centered on something more primal than sorrow. She is uninformed until the spirit seizes her, and that shift is shocking because it is so emotional.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that subscribers globally can get immersed in this chilling supernatural event.


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


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, spreading the horror to horror fans worldwide.


Make sure to see this cinematic exploration of dread. Confront *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to experience these unholy truths about mankind.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and updates from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit the film’s website.





U.S. horror’s major pivot: the year 2025 U.S. rollouts blends myth-forward possession, signature indie scares, plus legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from endurance-driven terror saturated with biblical myth all the way to legacy revivals set beside acutely observed indies, 2025 is emerging as the most stratified combined with strategic year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Top studios are anchoring the year with established lines, in tandem SVOD players load up the fall with new voices as well as ancestral chills. On the festival side, indie storytellers is riding the echoes from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, but this year, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are disciplined, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige fear returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s distribution arm opens the year with a confident swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in an immediate now. Under director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, the WB camp launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

After that, The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the tone that worked before is intact: period tinged dread, trauma centered writing, and a cold supernatural calculus. This pass pushes higher, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The return delves further into myth, thickens the animatronic pantheon, courting teens and the thirty something base. It hits in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

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 reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

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

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror swings back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall stack and winter swing card

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. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

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 assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The 2026 terror calendar year ahead: Sequels, standalone ideas, and also A brimming Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek: The brand-new horror cycle stacks in short order with a January glut, subsequently unfolds through the mid-year, and continuing into the year-end corridor, fusing legacy muscle, fresh ideas, and well-timed alternatives. Studios and streamers are betting on right-sized spends, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that elevate these releases into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has grown into the surest move in release strategies, a pillar that can grow when it hits and still protect the drawdown when it does not. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for top brass that lean-budget fright engines can command the national conversation, 2024 kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The upswing moved into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and elevated films highlighted there is demand for different modes, from franchise continuations to original features that resonate abroad. The combined impact for 2026 is a grid that feels more orchestrated than usual across the major shops, with defined corridors, a pairing of brand names and new concepts, and a sharpened focus on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on paid VOD and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the space now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the grid. Horror can open on virtually any date, deliver a clear pitch for teasers and reels, and punch above weight with viewers that turn out on early shows and return through the follow-up frame if the title lands. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern demonstrates faith in that model. The slate kicks off with a thick January stretch, then taps spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while holding room for a fall run that flows toward late October and past Halloween. The schedule also spotlights the deeper integration of indie distributors and platforms that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and broaden at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is franchise tending across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Studio teams are not just making another follow-up. They are working to present story carry-over with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that announces a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that connects a next film to a foundational era. At the same time, the visionaries behind the marquee originals are championing material texture, makeup and prosthetics and distinct locales. That convergence delivers the 2026 slate a lively combination of comfort and newness, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight plays that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the focus, angling it as both a relay and a classic-mode character piece. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture hints at a nostalgia-forward strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Plan for a rollout rooted in franchise iconography, first images of characters, and a tiered teaser plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reboots 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 off-tentpole summer play, this one will go after general-audience talk through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever drives horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate strategies. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is crisp, heartbroken, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an digital partner that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date places it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to recreate odd public stunts and micro spots that fuses devotion and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a title drop to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele titles are sold as event films, with a concept-forward tease and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date affords Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has proven that a gnarly, hands-on effects mix can feel premium on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror surge that emphasizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, sustaining a reliable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is describing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both core fans and casuals. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around narrative world, and monster design, elements that can amplify large-format demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books 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 defined by obsessive craft and dialect, this time set against lycan legends. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films land on copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both launch urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix licensed films with world buys and brief theater runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, Halloween hubs, and staff picks to keep attention on overall cume. Netflix stays nimble about first-party entries and festival additions, securing horror entries with shorter lead times and positioning as event drops launches with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a two-step of limited theatrical footprints and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will prove important 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 acquire select projects with acclaimed directors or star-driven packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for monthly engagement when the genre conversation peaks.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 pipeline with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, modernized for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a big-screen first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then working the holiday frame to widen. That positioning has worked well for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception justifies. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using boutique theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchises versus originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on legacy awareness. The trade-off, as ever, is overexposure. The standing approach is to frame each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is elevating core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-flavored turn from a rising filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the deal build is familiar enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns clarify the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that honored streaming windows did not deter a same-day experiment from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they shift POV and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters lensed back-to-back, allows marketing to bridge entries through personae and themes and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind 2026 horror signal a continued emphasis on real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that underscores tone and tension rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta-horror reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature work and production design, which fit with expo activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that center razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that sing on PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is jammed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid heavier IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller 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 spreads.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May my company 8 feeds 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 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a transitional slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 run into a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. 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 difficult boss scramble to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, shaped by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting setup that pipes the unease through a youth’s unreliable subjective view. Rating: pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-crafted and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes modern genre fads and true crime fervors. Rating: TBA. Production: principal photography set 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 ignites, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a unlucky family entangled with long-buried horrors. Rating: pending. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: undetermined. Production: ongoing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 primordial menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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

Why 2026, why now

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 needed this page calendar breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly 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 placements. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can command a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 stealth-hit search 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 maximize those pockets. January could my company easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sonics, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Ready To Roar

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.