Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primeval horror, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on top streamers

An frightening mystic nightmare movie from dramatist / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an primeval curse when guests become proxies in a cursed game. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a intense story of continuance and archaic horror that will reconstruct the horror genre this scare season. Created by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and claustrophobic feature follows five teens who come to sealed in a wooded hideaway under the ominous rule of Kyra, a tormented girl inhabited by a legendary biblical force. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a big screen outing that merges deep-seated panic with mystical narratives, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a legendary trope in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is reversed when the fiends no longer descend from a different plane, but rather from deep inside. This suggests the most primal version of every character. The result is a psychologically brutal inner struggle where the conflict becomes a perpetual face-off between moral forces.


In a unforgiving natural abyss, five souls find themselves sealed under the evil presence and grasp of a obscure being. As the victims becomes defenseless to deny her command, exiled and chased by spirits unfathomable, they are driven to confront their worst nightmares while the timeline without pity pushes forward toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease amplifies and alliances shatter, requiring each participant to reflect on their self and the principle of independent thought itself. The tension rise with every beat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that connects supernatural terror with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to dig into pure dread, an malevolence that predates humanity, channeling itself through mental cracks, and exposing a presence that strips down our being when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra was centered on something outside normal anguish. She is uninformed until the evil takes hold, and that evolution is harrowing because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing streamers worldwide can face this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its release of trailer #1, which has racked up over six-figure audience.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, taking the terror to a worldwide audience.


Make sure to see this gripping exploration of dread. Join *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to face these evil-rooted truths about the mind.


For director insights, special features, and alerts from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 U.S. calendar weaves myth-forward possession, microbudget gut-punches, plus brand-name tremors

Ranging from last-stand terror inspired by legendary theology and stretching into brand-name continuations set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 looks like the most variegated along with blueprinted year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. leading studios set cornerstones with established lines, while SVOD players front-load the fall with new perspectives set against mythic dread. At the same time, the art-house flank is surfing the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Since Halloween is the prized date, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, notably this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are precise, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner begins the calendar with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Steered by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, Warner’s schedule sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: old school creep, trauma as narrative engine, with ghostly inner logic. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, cornering year end horror.

Platform Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror chamber piece fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 overstuffed canon. No continuity burden. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

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

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy IP: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, from Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Trend Lines

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror resurges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The upcoming scare slate: brand plays, new stories, together with A jammed Calendar calibrated for jolts

Dek The new terror season crams right away with a January logjam, following that runs through June and July, and far into the winter holidays, balancing name recognition, new voices, and strategic counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and shareable marketing that pivot genre titles into national conversation.

Horror momentum into 2026

The genre has become the dependable move in studio lineups, a lane that can lift when it performs and still protect the drawdown when it does not. After the 2023 year reassured leaders that lean-budget fright engines can own the discourse, 2024 maintained heat with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The upswing translated to the 2025 frame, where revived properties and festival-grade titles made clear there is a market for a spectrum, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that carry overseas. The combined impact for 2026 is a run that presents tight coordination across distributors, with intentional bunching, a mix of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a refocused attention on exclusive windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and home platforms.

Executives say the genre now functions as a utility player on the release plan. The genre can debut on nearly any frame, yield a grabby hook for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and punch above weight with demo groups that come out on preview nights and maintain momentum through the subsequent weekend if the movie works. Post a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup underscores certainty in that setup. The year commences with a loaded January run, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while making space for a fall cadence that extends to holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The arrangement also includes the increasing integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and widen at the timely point.

A companion trend is IP cultivation across linked properties and long-running brands. The studios are not just greenlighting another continuation. They are looking to package threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a art treatment that broadcasts a re-angled tone or a lead change that bridges a new installment to a classic era. At the meanwhile, the helmers behind the marquee originals are championing tactile craft, physical gags and specific settings. That blend delivers 2026 a solid mix of known notes and invention, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount defines the early cadence with two high-profile bets that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a back-to-basics character-forward chapter. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a throwback-friendly angle without replaying the last two entries’ sibling arc. Plan for a rollout leaning on iconic art, initial cast looks, and a promo sequence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will pursue wide buzz through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick turns to whatever dominates genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three defined lanes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is straightforward, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man sets up an artificial companion that shifts into a harmful mate. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s marketing likely to iterate on creepy live activations and bite-size content that threads romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a proper title to become an fan moment closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele titles are framed as signature events, with a hinting teaser and a next wave of trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween runway offers Universal room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, hands-on effects treatment can feel big on a disciplined budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror surge that embraces foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio lines up two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, continuing a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is framing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around lore, and monster design, elements that can drive premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror built on obsessive craft and linguistic texture, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ladder that optimizes both launch urgency and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video will mix licensed titles with worldwide buys and limited cinema engagements when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in back-catalog play, using well-timed internal promotions, genre hubs, and featured rows to increase tail value on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, finalizing horror entries with shorter lead times and coalescing around go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and accelerated platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a per-project basis. The platform has proven amenable to purchase select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 corridor with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is simple: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, reimagined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the year-end corridor to open out. That positioning has been successful for elevated genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set 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 scale if reception drives. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

Known brands versus new stories

By count, 2026 tips toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The practical approach is to pitch each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is underscoring character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a Francophone tone from a fresh helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the team and cast is comforting enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night crowds.

The last three-year set make sense of the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that maintained windows did not block a parallel release from working when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they change perspective and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward 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 lensed back-to-back, enables marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

Craft and creative trends

The production chatter behind the 2026 entries telegraph a continued move toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-effects 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 leans on atmosphere and fear rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and earns shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-aware reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which align with booth activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

From winter to holidays

January is heavy. 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 brooding contrast amid larger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the spread of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late winter and spring set up the summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a late-September window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited asset reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as weblink filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift card usage.

One-sentence dossiers

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s virtual companion escalates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 tough boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the hierarchy reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to terror, based on Cronin’s hands-on craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting tale that pipes the unease through a young child’s volatile point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-financed and name-above-title eerie suspense.

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 satirical comeback that riffs on of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family caught in long-buried horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over action-centric bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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-specific language and elemental dread. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026, why now

Three grounded forces frame this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or reshuffled in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify turnkey scare beats from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The 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 harvest those lanes. 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 spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision where it matters, 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 shudders sell the seats.