Mythic Evil emerges: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding feature, bowing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

A eerie paranormal suspense story from dramatist / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an ancient curse when foreigners become pawns in a supernatural contest. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing tale of perseverance and prehistoric entity that will reimagine the horror genre this harvest season. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and emotionally thick fearfest follows five young adults who awaken trapped in a remote wooden structure under the malignant command of Kyra, a young woman occupied by a legendary Old Testament spirit. Get ready to be shaken by a big screen spectacle that fuses visceral dread with mystical narratives, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a mainstay fixture in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is reversed when the demons no longer appear from elsewhere, but rather inside them. This symbolizes the grimmest shade of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat inner struggle where the story becomes a unyielding tug-of-war between heaven and hell.


In a forsaken landscape, five friends find themselves cornered under the sinister grip and domination of a secretive being. As the characters becomes incapacitated to fight her will, isolated and attacked by unknowns unfathomable, they are driven to wrestle with their inner horrors while the countdown brutally ticks toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension grows and alliances crack, forcing each participant to contemplate their essence and the notion of liberty itself. The tension grow with every instant, delivering a frightening tale that weaves together paranormal dread with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dive into core terror, an spirit from ancient eras, manipulating our weaknesses, and confronting a force that challenges autonomy when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra needed manifesting something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the entity awakens, and that conversion is haunting because it is so close.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving audiences anywhere can face this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its first trailer, which has received over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, taking the terror to horror fans worldwide.


Be sure to catch this soul-jarring path of possession. Enter *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to explore these ghostly lessons about free will.


For film updates, making-of footage, and reveals from inside the story, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit our spooky domain.





The horror genre’s major pivot: the year 2025 domestic schedule integrates primeval-possession lore, independent shockers, plus returning-series thunder

Running from last-stand terror steeped in scriptural legend and onward to brand-name continuations plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 appears poised to be the most dimensioned along with intentionally scheduled year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. leading studios plant stakes across the year with franchise anchors, even as streaming platforms pack the fall with discovery plays set against legend-coded dread. At the same time, the independent cohort is buoyed by the kinetic energy of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, so 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige fear returns

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a confident swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures bows the concluding entry inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and those signature textures resurface: nostalgic menace, trauma as text, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, courting teens and the thirty something base. It drops in December, pinning the winter close.

Streamer Exclusives: Modest spend, serious shock

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a two hander body horror spiral led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale led by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one burrows toward 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 Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a clever angle. No bloated mythology. No IP hangover. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

What to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror swings back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Cinemas are 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.

Forward View: Fall crush plus winter X factor

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The forthcoming 2026 scare calendar year ahead: continuations, standalone ideas, as well as A brimming Calendar designed for shocks

Dek The upcoming horror slate lines up in short order with a January traffic jam, subsequently carries through midyear, and deep into the holiday stretch, balancing brand equity, creative pitches, and strategic offsets. Studios with streamers are relying on lean spends, theater-first strategies, and social-fueled campaigns that frame these pictures into culture-wide discussion.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has emerged as the bankable option in release strategies, a pillar that can grow when it resonates and still mitigate the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted scare machines can steer social chatter, 2024 continued the surge with festival-darling auteurs and stealth successes. The run extended into the 2025 frame, where returns and arthouse crossovers proved there is room for a spectrum, from ongoing IP entries to standalone ideas that export nicely. The combined impact for 2026 is a run that is strikingly coherent across distributors, with defined corridors, a spread of established brands and new packages, and a tightened eye on release windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital rental and digital services.

Buyers contend the category now functions as a swing piece on the distribution slate. The genre can arrive on many corridors, offer a sharp concept for teasers and vertical videos, and lead with fans that come out on preview nights and return through the next weekend if the picture delivers. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 rhythm signals certainty in that logic. The slate gets underway with a heavy January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for contrast, while saving space for a fall cadence that carries into the Halloween corridor and into post-Halloween. The arrangement also reflects the increasing integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can platform a title, ignite recommendations, and scale up at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across brand ecosystems and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just pushing another entry. They are looking to package story carry-over with a heightened moment, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a tonal shift or a cast configuration that connects a incoming chapter to a original cycle. At the same time, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into in-camera technique, on-set effects and concrete locations. That pairing delivers the 2026 slate a robust balance of recognition and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight moves that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the heart, signaling it as both a baton pass and a classic-mode relationship-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a classic-referencing bent without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign centered on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches 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 linchpin the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will chase wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick adjustments to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three discrete entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is straightforward, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that grows into a killer companion. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit strange in-person beats and short-form creative that hybridizes love and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a title drop to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s pictures are marketed as creative events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor allows Universal to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, in-camera leaning style can feel prestige on a middle budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror surge that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio places two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a bankable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is describing as a fresh restart 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 focus to serve both devotees and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build marketing units around lore, and creature effects, elements that can fuel format premiums 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 maintains Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already locked the day for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the tail. Prime Video stitches together licensed titles with worldwide entries and targeted theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, Halloween hubs, and editorial rows to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival pickups, dating horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has signaled readiness to buy select projects with award winners or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, retooled for modern sound 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. Cineverse has announced a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then working the holiday slot to expand. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-first horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception justifies. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited runs to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Known brands versus new stories

By proportion, 2026 is weighted toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness name recognition. The risk, as ever, is fatigue. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the cast-creatives package is steady enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Three-year comps outline the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not preclude a same-day experiment from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, allows marketing to cross-link entries through cast and motif and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre point to a continued move toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-true language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that withholds plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster realization and design, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that work in PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is crowded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps 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 variety of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was Young & Cursed known for genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a late-September window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that elevate concept over story.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card redemption.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s digital partner shifts into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: mood-led 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 abrasive boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power flips and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, shaped by Cronin’s in-camera craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that explores the panic of a child’s fragile read. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-supported and star-fronted eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A send-up revival that targets present-day genre chatter and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further opens again, with a different family linked to long-buried horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on this website survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and elemental dread. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or rearranged in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, freeing space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will trade weekends across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, 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 sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats 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 are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, efficient screen counts, 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, aural design, 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is recognizable IP where it plays, new vision where it lands, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the shocks sell the seats.