Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites age-old dread, a fear soaked horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on global platforms

One chilling supernatural horror tale from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an primordial dread when unknowns become tokens in a fiendish maze. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving depiction of staying alive and old world terror that will resculpt scare flicks this ghoul season. Brought to life by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and eerie feature follows five unknowns who arise locked in a wooded shelter under the menacing sway of Kyra, a young woman occupied by a time-worn holy text monster. Get ready to be enthralled by a motion picture ride that unites deep-seated panic with ancient myths, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a iconic element in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is subverted when the entities no longer come outside their bodies, but rather through their own souls. This symbolizes the most hidden aspect of the protagonists. The result is a gripping emotional conflict where the events becomes a unforgiving conflict between righteousness and malevolence.


In a remote terrain, five friends find themselves trapped under the possessive sway and grasp of a obscure figure. As the cast becomes defenseless to resist her will, abandoned and attacked by creatures ungraspable, they are driven to reckon with their darkest emotions while the hours without pity strikes toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear builds and associations splinter, forcing each protagonist to examine their being and the foundation of autonomy itself. The danger mount with every minute, delivering a fear-soaked story that integrates spiritual fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to evoke primal fear, an evil from prehistory, influencing fragile psyche, and exposing a curse that forces self-examination when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra required summoning something deeper than fear. She is blind until the demon emerges, and that transition is shocking because it is so personal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving users across the world can engage with this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original clip, which has been viewed over strong viewer count.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, extending the thrill to global fright lovers.


Witness this heart-stopping descent into darkness. Watch *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these haunting secrets about inner darkness.


For featurettes, production insights, and reveals from behind the lens, follow @YACFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie portal.





U.S. horror’s tipping point: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts interlaces myth-forward possession, art-house nightmares, and brand-name tremors

Ranging from last-stand terror grounded in old testament echoes and stretching into brand-name continuations set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted along with calculated campaign year in years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio majors set cornerstones with established lines, at the same time streamers crowd the fall with new voices together with scriptural shivers. At the same time, the independent cohort is buoyed by the momentum of a record-setting 2024 festival season. With Halloween holding the peak, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, therefore 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal kicks off the frame with a statement play: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. targeting mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

As summer eases, the Warner lot launches the swan song within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as theme, along with eerie supernatural rules. The bar is raised this go, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It hits in December, buttoning the final window.

Digital Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger fronted by 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.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga starring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written 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. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

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 steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Series Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The oncoming genre calendar year ahead: installments, universe starters, as well as A loaded Calendar aimed at screams

Dek The incoming genre year stacks early with a January pile-up, following that flows through peak season, and continuing into the winter holidays, marrying franchise firepower, new voices, and calculated offsets. Studios and platforms are leaning into responsible budgets, cinema-first plans, and shareable marketing that shape genre releases into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

This space has proven to be the predictable tool in annual schedules, a pillar that can grow when it hits and still hedge the losses when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year signaled to buyers that disciplined-budget entries can galvanize the discourse, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The trend moved into the 2025 frame, where reboots and critical darlings highlighted there is capacity for different modes, from continued chapters to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The takeaway for 2026 is a calendar that shows rare alignment across the industry, with planned clusters, a balance of known properties and novel angles, and a re-energized priority on release windows that power the aftermarket on premium home window and home platforms.

Marketers add the space now slots in as a flex slot on the slate. The genre can debut on open real estate, generate a sharp concept for creative and TikTok spots, and lead with moviegoers that respond on first-look nights and stick through the week two if the feature connects. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 cadence underscores belief in that setup. The year commences with a loaded January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a fall cadence that runs into spooky season and past the holiday. The arrangement also shows the deeper integration of arthouse labels and subscription services that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and grow at the timely point.

An added macro current is franchise tending across shared IP webs and long-running brands. Big banners are not just releasing another follow-up. They are looking to package ongoing narrative with a premium feel, whether that is a graphic identity that indicates a new vibe or a cast configuration that ties a fresh chapter to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the creative teams behind the eagerly awaited originals are championing real-world builds, real effects and vivid settings. That alloy offers 2026 a smart balance of brand comfort and newness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount sets the tone early with two front-of-slate bets that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the center, signaling it as both a relay and a classic-mode character-forward chapter. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the story approach points to a legacy-leaning bent without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Count on a promo wave driven by recognizable motifs, first-look character reveals, and a tease cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will play up. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will go after mainstream recognition through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format allowing quick shifts to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, melancholic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that evolves into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on viral uncanny stunts and short-cut promos that blurs attachment and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title drop to become an fan moment closer to the initial tease. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele projects are marketed as filmmaker events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The prime October weekend lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that maximizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, check over here on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is selling as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both longtime followers and curious audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build materials around world-building, and monster aesthetics, elements that can increase IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror centered on textural authenticity and language, this time exploring werewolf lore. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is favorable.

Digital platform strategies

Platform windowing in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre slate land on copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a pacing that expands both initial urgency and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video pairs licensed films with global pickups and limited runs in theaters when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using curated hubs, spooky hubs, and collection rows to sustain interest on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix plays opportunist about originals and festival additions, dating horror entries tight to release and framing as events releases with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a dual-phase of tailored theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a per-project basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to purchase select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for retention when the genre conversation surges.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled 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 October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday slot to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for director-led genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception justifies. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Legacy titles versus originals

By proportion, 2026 tips toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on marquee value. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the deal build is assuring enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday previews.

Recent-year comps help explain the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that observed windows did not obstruct a day-date try from hitting when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror over-performed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot in tandem, lets marketing to bridge entries through character and theme and to leave creative active without doldrums.

How the films are being made

The filmmaking conversations behind the upcoming entries point to a continued move toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores texture and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta refresh that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster aesthetics and world-building, which lend themselves to booth activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that highlight surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid headline IP. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited disclosures that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s machine mate unfolds into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: aura-driven 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 demanding boss fight to survive on a isolated island as the control dynamic reverses and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fear, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 household haunting setup that mediates the fear via a minor’s uncertain inner lens. Rating: forthcoming. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-crafted and name-above-title ghost thriller.

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 teases in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime buzz. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 detonates, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further extends again, with a unlucky family snared by returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBA. 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: TBD. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBA. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 theatrical-first route ahead of 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 location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, select scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will jostle across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 easily deliver the first left-field winner 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 pace and range. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. news Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, soundscape, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, 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, shape lean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.