Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

This eerie metaphysical scare-fest from narrative craftsman / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an forgotten malevolence when unknowns become vehicles in a demonic experiment. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of struggle and prehistoric entity that will resculpt genre cinema this harvest season. Crafted by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and cinematic cinema piece follows five people who find themselves imprisoned in a remote lodge under the hostile rule of Kyra, a tormented girl overtaken by a timeless Old Testament spirit. Ready yourself to be ensnared by a visual presentation that blends bone-deep fear with spiritual backstory, premiering on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a legendary motif in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is turned on its head when the forces no longer develop outside the characters, but rather within themselves. This mirrors the most hidden aspect of the group. The result is a intense spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a unyielding conflict between right and wrong.


In a isolated no-man's-land, five adults find themselves confined under the ghastly effect and spiritual invasion of a secretive character. As the youths becomes paralyzed to oppose her command, isolated and targeted by presences unimaginable, they are compelled to wrestle with their worst nightmares while the doomsday meter coldly winds toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion mounts and partnerships erode, driving each protagonist to doubt their character and the idea of decision-making itself. The stakes surge with every beat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that blends demonic fright with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dive into primitive panic, an force before modern man, operating within psychological breaks, and challenging a force that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra was about accessing something deeper than fear. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that evolution is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing users globally can get immersed in this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its original clip, which has attracted over six-figure audience.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, extending the thrill to horror fans worldwide.


Be sure to catch this mind-warping path of possession. Join *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to dive into these ghostly lessons about free will.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and alerts from those who lived it, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official website.





Current horror’s watershed moment: 2025 in focus domestic schedule melds ancient-possession motifs, microbudget gut-punches, paired with series shake-ups

Spanning endurance-driven terror inspired by legendary theology as well as installment follow-ups as well as incisive indie visions, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted as well as tactically planned year in years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios set cornerstones through proven series, while platform operators stack the fall with new perspectives together with scriptural shivers. Across the art-house lane, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the momentum from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The fall stretch is the proving field, but this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, hence 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s schedule lights the fuse with a headline swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a sharp contemporary setting. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer tapers, Warner’s slate delivers the closing chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re teams, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retrograde shiver, trauma explicitly handled, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. Here the stakes rise, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It arrives in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend starring 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 piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Series Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trends to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror returns
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

What’s Next: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

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 battle for oxygen. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The forthcoming 2026 terror cycle: continuations, original films, plus A jammed Calendar aimed at shocks

Dek: The arriving scare calendar loads at the outset with a January wave, and then extends through the warm months, and running into the late-year period, blending brand equity, original angles, and well-timed release strategy. Distributors with platforms are focusing on right-sized spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and social-driven marketing that turn these releases into culture-wide discussion.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has established itself as the consistent swing in annual schedules, a segment that can surge when it breaks through and still limit the floor when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to greenlighters that disciplined-budget shockers can steer the discourse, 2024 kept energy high with director-led heat and under-the-radar smashes. The momentum extended into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and awards-minded projects demonstrated there is appetite for many shades, from returning installments to filmmaker-driven originals that resonate abroad. The result for 2026 is a calendar that seems notably aligned across players, with mapped-out bands, a harmony of familiar brands and fresh ideas, and a renewed stance on release windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and OTT platforms.

Buyers contend the space now acts as a plug-and-play option on the rollout map. Horror can arrive on virtually any date, generate a easy sell for teasers and TikTok spots, and exceed norms with audiences that line up on first-look nights and sustain through the subsequent weekend if the movie connects. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 rhythm shows assurance in that engine. The calendar launches with a crowded January corridor, then plants flags in spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a autumn push that runs into late October and beyond. The arrangement also illustrates the tightening integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and expand at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is series management across ongoing universes and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just producing another sequel. They are moving to present brand continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that signals a refreshed voice or a casting move that bridges a latest entry to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the top original plays are embracing hands-on technique, practical gags and concrete locations. That combination hands the 2026 slate a robust balance of familiarity and discovery, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount plants an early flag with two big-ticket pushes that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the heart, setting it up as both a passing of the torch and a heritage-centered character study. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the authorial approach conveys a legacy-leaning framework without rehashing the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, character previews, and a rollout cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek four-quadrant chatter through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick reframes to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is crisp, tragic, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an synthetic partner that becomes a deadly partner. The date places it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s campaign likely to echo uncanny live moments and micro spots that interweaves longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are branded as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a follow-up trailer set that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor lets the studio 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, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has established that a raw, practical-first treatment can feel big on a efficient spend. Frame it as a red-band summer horror hit that centers worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio books two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is selling as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign pieces around lore, and creature work, elements that can increase premium booking interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in meticulous craft and period speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is warm.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s horror titles land on copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that maximizes both first-week urgency and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with worldwide buys and limited cinema engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog discovery, using timely promos, October hubs, and programmed rows to keep attention on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival pickups, slotting horror entries near launch and eventizing drops with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of focused cinema runs and quick platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with accomplished filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for sustained usage when the genre conversation surges.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is crafting a this page 2026 pipeline with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, managing the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas window to scale. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception allows. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using limited runs to fuel evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchises versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-tinted vision from a buzzed-about director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the package is grounded enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years help explain the template. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not stop a simultaneous release test from hitting when the brand was trusted. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel new when they alter lens and widen scale. 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 paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The creative meetings behind 2026 horror point to a continued turn toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that centers atmosphere and fear rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-referential reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which fit with convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel primary. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

Release calendar overview

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons 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 formidable, but the tonal variety affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth persists.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a peekaboo tease plan and limited asset reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 prickly boss claw to survive on a far-flung island as the power balance of power upends and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

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 contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to dread, based on Cronin’s physical craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 household haunting tale that plays with the fright of a child’s fragile perspective. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: locked. Positioning: major-studio and name-above-title ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that targets hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family linked to residual nightmares. Rating: to be announced. 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: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: underway. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and ancient menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more structured 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 landings. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

There is also the slotting calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will cluster across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 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 shock 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, soundscape, and framing 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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, edit tight trailers, keep the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.