Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives age-old dread, a pulse pounding shocker, streaming October 2025 across top streaming platforms

One terrifying otherworldly horror tale from cinematographer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an mythic force when passersby become proxies in a dark game. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of living through and mythic evil that will reconstruct scare flicks this spooky time. Realized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and claustrophobic screenplay follows five people who wake up trapped in a remote hideaway under the oppressive rule of Kyra, a mysterious girl occupied by a time-worn sacred-era entity. Arm yourself to be ensnared by a audio-visual presentation that intertwines intense horror with ancient myths, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a well-established trope in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is reimagined when the demons no longer descend from elsewhere, but rather from deep inside. This illustrates the most terrifying part of every character. The result is a edge-of-seat spiritual tug-of-war where the story becomes a soul-crushing face-off between divinity and wickedness.


In a abandoned wild, five adults find themselves isolated under the sinister grip and infestation of a mysterious entity. As the youths becomes incapacitated to fight her influence, severed and targeted by terrors beyond comprehension, they are compelled to acknowledge their soulful dreads while the timeline relentlessly pushes forward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease surges and partnerships break, compelling each character to reflect on their character and the notion of self-determination itself. The stakes magnify with every tick, delivering a frightening tale that connects occult fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to channel raw dread, an entity from prehistory, working through emotional fractures, and exposing a evil that forces self-examination when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is unseeing until the takeover begins, and that conversion is haunting because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audience access beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing audiences around the globe can enjoy this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its original promo, which has seen over a viral response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Experience this bone-rattling descent into darkness. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to dive into these spiritual awakenings about the psyche.


For previews, production news, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursed across your socials and visit the official website.





Modern horror’s tipping point: 2025 in focus stateside slate fuses old-world possession, underground frights, paired with IP aftershocks

Spanning pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by scriptural legend and including returning series together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is emerging as the most variegated plus precision-timed year in the past ten years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Major studios bookend the months with franchise anchors, simultaneously streaming platforms load up the fall with discovery plays together with old-world menace. On the festival side, independent banners is drafting behind the echoes from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Since Halloween is the prized date, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The fall stretch is the proving field, and now, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are methodical, so 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium dread reemerges

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 accelerates.

Universal starts the year with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. arriving mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, along with eerie supernatural rules. The stakes escalate here, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The follow up digs further into canon, broadens the animatronic terror cast, speaking to teens and older millennials. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: No Budget, No Problem

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Shaped 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in 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 a calculated bet. No swollen lore. No canon weight. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Franchise Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. 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, under Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming fright year to come: brand plays, universe starters, and also A loaded Calendar geared toward screams

Dek: The arriving terror year clusters from the jump with a January logjam, subsequently unfolds through the warm months, and deep into the festive period, weaving franchise firepower, inventive spins, and smart release strategy. Major distributors and platforms are embracing responsible budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that pivot these releases into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has turned into the consistent release in annual schedules, a corner that can break out when it performs and still insulate the liability when it stumbles. After the 2023 year reassured studio brass that responsibly budgeted chillers can dominate mainstream conversation, the following year kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The momentum extended into 2025, where revivals and critical darlings underscored there is appetite for a spectrum, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that play globally. The sum for 2026 is a grid that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with purposeful groupings, a harmony of legacy names and novel angles, and a re-energized eye on box-office windows that power the aftermarket on premium on-demand and OTT platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now functions as a schedule utility on the release plan. Horror can kick off on most weekends, provide a sharp concept for creative and short-form placements, and outstrip with crowds that respond on opening previews and keep coming through the follow-up frame if the movie connects. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 pattern reflects trust in that dynamic. The year kicks off with a crowded January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while carving room for a fall corridor that pushes into the Halloween corridor and into early November. The gridline also features the increasing integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and roll out at the sweet spot.

Another broad trend is franchise tending across unified worlds and classic IP. Major shops are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are aiming to frame continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title presentation that indicates a fresh attitude or a casting choice that reconnects a upcoming film to a early run. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into real-world builds, physical gags and specific settings. That fusion gives 2026 a vital pairing of comfort and freshness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a heritage-honoring approach without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive rooted in heritage visuals, early character teases, and a promo sequence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first 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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mass reach through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that escalates into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and short reels that melds devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are set up as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The late-month date gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, in-camera leaning style can feel premium on a efficient spend. Expect a gore-forward summer horror blast that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around world-building, and monster design, elements that can drive PLF interest and fan-forward 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 follows Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in rigorous craft and dialect, this time driven by werewolf stories. The imprint has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is glowing.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform tactics for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run shift to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a structure that boosts both premiere heat and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video combines acquired titles with international acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in archive usage, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and editorial rows to stretch the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about internal projects and festival buys, confirming horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to purchase select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for monthly activity when the genre conversation ramps.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 slate with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is direct: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a traditional cinema play for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday frame to expand. That positioning has proved effective for craft-driven horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception allows. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using mini theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their community.

Balance of brands and originals

By volume, the 2026 slate leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The trade-off, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to brand each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is centering character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a European tilt from a new voice. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add air. 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, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is known enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns clarify the method. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that maintained windows did not block a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot in tandem, creates space for marketing to link the films through cast and motif and to maintain a flow of assets without doldrums.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The creative meetings behind this year’s genre telegraph a continued move toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that centers mood and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-aware reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature design and production design, which fit with fan conventions and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel key. Look for trailers that emphasize precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is busy. 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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the palette of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 this website with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited plot reveals that put concept first.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Embedded title notes

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

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

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

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 face a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 battle to survive on a desolate island as the power balance of power swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, rooted in Cronin’s practical effects and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting premise that refracts terror through a preteen’s uneven subjective view. Rating: TBA. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-grade and star-fronted supernatural mood piece.

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 send-up revival that satirizes modern genre fads and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing scheduled 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 surges, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further opens again, with a unlucky family bound to past horrors. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 fear. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 2026 timing works

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or shuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will share space 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 benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where lean-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 press those advantages. 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. 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.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient placements, 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 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 Shapes Up Strong

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand equity where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.