Ancient Darkness awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding chiller, rolling out October 2025 on top streamers

A unnerving otherworldly terror film from dramatist / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an forgotten curse when foreigners become victims in a demonic contest. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish story of staying alive and primordial malevolence that will transform terror storytelling this harvest season. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and shadowy fearfest follows five lost souls who awaken isolated in a far-off dwelling under the dark control of Kyra, a troubled woman claimed by a time-worn holy text monster. Get ready to be enthralled by a big screen journey that fuses gut-punch terror with legendary tales, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a enduring foundation in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is twisted when the spirits no longer come externally, but rather from their core. This suggests the malevolent facet of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat identity crisis where the drama becomes a unyielding tug-of-war between innocence and sin.


In a forsaken terrain, five friends find themselves contained under the fiendish aura and haunting of a enigmatic figure. As the protagonists becomes helpless to evade her power, abandoned and attacked by beings unfathomable, they are required to confront their darkest emotions while the hours brutally ticks onward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and ties fracture, requiring each member to doubt their values and the notion of volition itself. The threat escalate with every instant, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that intertwines paranormal dread with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to tap into raw dread, an darkness that predates humanity, manipulating soul-level flaws, and challenging a force that forces self-examination when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was about accessing something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the haunting manifests, and that pivot is harrowing because it is so deep.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for audience access beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—providing subscribers across the world can get immersed in this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original clip, which has earned over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, offering the tale to viewers around the world.


Tune in for this cinematic exploration of dread. Confront *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these terrifying truths about our species.


For previews, production insights, and press updates from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the official website.





Today’s horror tipping point: calendar year 2025 American release plan melds myth-forward possession, Indie Shockers, alongside legacy-brand quakes

Beginning with last-stand terror saturated with mythic scripture and stretching into IP renewals plus focused festival visions, 2025 is tracking to be the richest in tandem with tactically planned year in ten years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Major studios stabilize the year with established lines, in parallel platform operators front-load the fall with emerging auteurs set against scriptural shivers. In parallel, independent banners is catching the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are calculated, as a result 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: The Return of Prestige Fear

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal Pictures opens the year with a headline swing: a modernized Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Under director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. set for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

By late summer, the WB camp unveils the final movement from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: vintage toned fear, trauma in the foreground, plus otherworld rules that chill. The stakes escalate here, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It hits in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a tight space body horror vignette featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. 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 poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and helmed 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No puffed out backstory. No legacy baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Brands: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The next terror season: entries, standalone ideas, together with A busy Calendar calibrated for jolts

Dek The current terror calendar lines up immediately with a January bottleneck, before it unfolds through summer, and straight through the festive period, fusing series momentum, creative pitches, and shrewd counterprogramming. The big buyers and platforms are leaning into mid-range economics, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that turn these releases into culture-wide discussion.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror sector has proven to be the steady option in studio calendars, a category that can lift when it connects and still safeguard the losses when it fails to connect. After 2023 demonstrated to leaders that disciplined-budget horror vehicles can shape social chatter, 2024 extended the rally with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The energy fed into 2025, where reboots and critical darlings demonstrated there is a market for varied styles, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that translate worldwide. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a programming that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with strategic blocks, a spread of marquee IP and new concepts, and a renewed focus on theater exclusivity that drive downstream revenue on premium digital rental and digital services.

Studio leaders note the space now functions as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can arrive on almost any weekend, create a easy sell for marketing and reels, and overperform with demo groups that lean in on previews Thursday and stay strong through the next pass if the film satisfies. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 plan indicates comfort in that approach. The calendar kicks off with a loaded January schedule, then exploits spring through early summer for contrast, while leaving room for a October build that stretches into late October and past Halloween. The calendar also highlights the continuing integration of indie distributors and digital platforms that can platform and widen, grow buzz, and go nationwide at the sweet spot.

A reinforcing pattern is franchise tending across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just rolling another entry. They are working to present connection with a occasion, whether that is a typeface approach that announces a fresh attitude or a casting move that ties a incoming chapter to a early run. At the simultaneously, the helmers behind the high-profile originals are returning to material texture, makeup and prosthetics and specific settings. That fusion gives 2026 a smart balance of assurance and invention, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent plays that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the spine, setting it up as both a succession moment and a back-to-basics character-centered film. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the tonal posture conveys a memory-charged angle without going over the last two entries’ sibling arc. A campaign is expected fueled by brand visuals, character spotlights, and a two-beat trailer plan hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will play up. As a summer counter-slot, this one will hunt wide buzz through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three defined entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tidy, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an artificial companion that evolves into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to reprise uncanny live moments and micro spots that mixes intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title reveal to become an PR pop closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele projects are marketed as marquee events, with a mystery-first teaser and a later creative that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-month date allows Universal 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a flesh-and-blood, hands-on effects mix can feel cinematic on a controlled budget. Position this as a grime-caked summer horror shock that embraces global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a reliable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is positioning as a new take 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 focus to serve both devotees and general audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around lore, and monster craft, elements that can amplify PLF interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and historical speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is warm.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform plans for 2026 run on well-known grooves. The studio’s horror films window into copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that enhances both first-week urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video balances acquired titles with worldwide buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in deep cuts, using timely promos, October hubs, and handpicked rows to stretch the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix films and festival buys, confirming horror entries on shorter runways and staging as events rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a staged of limited theatrical footprints and accelerated platforming that translates talk to trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to board select projects with recognized filmmakers or headline-cast packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 slate with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clean: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, reimagined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a theatrical rollout for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday frame to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for auteur horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Look 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 in parallel, using limited theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their community.

Known brands versus new stories

By skew, 2026 leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate marquee value. The risk, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to brand each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is underscoring character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a fresh helmer. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the packaging is anchored enough to build pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps help explain the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not foreclose a hybrid test from hitting when the brand was sticky. In 2024, director-craft horror surged in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they rotate perspective 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 filmed consecutively, provides the means for marketing to connect the chapters through relationships and themes and to leave creative active without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this slate hint at a continued move toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that underscores grain and menace rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for textured sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tease that elevates tone over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and generates shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta refresh that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature work and production design, which work nicely for con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel necessary. Look for trailers that highlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

Annual flow

January is full. 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 foggy reset amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps 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 meaningful, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth holds.

Q1 into Q2 stage summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are Check This Out not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s virtual companion becomes something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection 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 encounter a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 prickly boss scramble to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order reverses and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s material craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting narrative that twists the horror of a child’s wobbly interpretations. Rating: to be announced. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A parody return that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fixations. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family snared by older hauntings. Rating: TBA. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A new start designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: undetermined. Production: in progress. 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 historical diction and elemental dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces frame this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming placements. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can command a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 value-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 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 pace and range. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, optimized footprints, 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, soundscape, 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.

A Promising 2026

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand gravity where needed, auteur intent 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, cut crisp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.