Age-old Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, debuting Oct 2025 across major platforms

One hair-raising ghostly horror tale from narrative craftsman / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an forgotten fear when unrelated individuals become tools in a supernatural maze. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful tale of endurance and primordial malevolence that will transform fear-driven cinema this October. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and emotionally thick motion picture follows five unknowns who come to caught in a off-grid cabin under the menacing dominion of Kyra, a haunted figure possessed by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Be warned to be gripped by a immersive ride that harmonizes soul-chilling terror with spiritual backstory, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a legendary trope in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is reversed when the monsters no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather deep within. This illustrates the deepest shade of these individuals. The result is a riveting moral showdown where the conflict becomes a soul-crushing clash between divinity and wickedness.


In a unforgiving outland, five characters find themselves trapped under the sinister effect and possession of a uncanny apparition. As the victims becomes submissive to evade her curse, disconnected and followed by presences unimaginable, they are pushed to confront their emotional phantoms while the timeline brutally edges forward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust surges and teams disintegrate, requiring each cast member to question their self and the notion of conscious will itself. The intensity escalate with every second, delivering a chilling narrative that combines occult fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to uncover instinctual horror, an curse from prehistory, channeling itself through mental cracks, and dealing with a evil that challenges autonomy when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra called for internalizing something outside normal anguish. She is uninformed until the haunting manifests, and that evolution is gut-wrenching because it is so intimate.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—making sure users anywhere can engage with this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its initial teaser, which has attracted over massive response.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, spreading the horror to thrill-seekers globally.


Don’t miss this haunted exploration of dread. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these unholy truths about the mind.


For sneak peeks, production insights, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit the film’s website.





Modern horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 stateside slate Mixes old-world possession, independent shockers, in parallel with legacy-brand quakes

From survivor-centric dread drawn from legendary theology to legacy revivals alongside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 stands to become the most complex in tandem with blueprinted year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, at the same time streamers saturate the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with legend-coded dread. At the same time, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, though in this cycle, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, accordingly 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal camp starts the year with a statement play: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a clear present-tense world. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer fades, the Warner Bros. banner launches the swan song from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson re engages, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: vintage toned fear, trauma as text, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, grows the animatronic horror lineup, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It posts in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

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

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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. It looks like sharp programming. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Dials to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Season Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The coming 2026 spook slate: continuations, Originals, as well as A stacked Calendar tailored for jolts

Dek: The new genre calendar lines up from the jump with a January pile-up, after that flows through midyear, and running into the holidays, marrying marquee clout, new voices, and savvy counterplay. Studios and streamers are doubling down on tight budgets, big-screen-first runs, and viral-minded pushes that pivot these films into national conversation.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has become the dependable play in annual schedules, a vertical that can grow when it hits and still protect the risk when it falls short. After 2023 showed studio brass that responsibly budgeted shockers can lead the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and surprise hits. The momentum pushed into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles made clear there is appetite for a variety of tones, from sequel tracks to original features that play globally. The net effect for 2026 is a roster that is strikingly coherent across studios, with strategic blocks, a blend of household franchises and original hooks, and a re-energized focus on theater exclusivity that drive downstream revenue on premium digital rental and home streaming.

Insiders argue the horror lane now works like a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. The genre can arrive on numerous frames, create a easy sell for trailers and TikTok spots, and outperform with moviegoers that respond on early shows and maintain momentum through the next pass if the release delivers. Emerging from a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 configuration indicates trust in that dynamic. The year gets underway with a stacked January lineup, then plants flags in spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while keeping space for a fall corridor that reaches into the Halloween corridor and into the next week. The layout also illustrates the ongoing integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can stage a platform run, fuel WOM, and expand at the optimal moment.

A companion trend is brand curation across interlocking continuities and legacy franchises. Major shops are not just pushing another installment. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that conveys a refreshed voice or a casting move that connects a latest entry to a first wave. At the same time, the helmers behind the top original plays are returning to hands-on technique, practical gags and specific settings. That pairing delivers 2026 a solid mix of known notes and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount marks the early tempo with two front-of-slate projects that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, steering it as both a baton pass and a foundation-forward character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a memory-charged approach without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive anchored in recognizable motifs, character-first teases, and a promo sequence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens 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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will feature. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will drive four-quadrant chatter through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format making room for quick reframes to whatever dominates pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique bets. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, tragic, and concept-forward: a grieving man activates an synthetic partner that mutates into a deadly partner. The date locates it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to renew strange in-person beats and short-cut promos that mixes longing and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a title drop to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His projects are presented as auteur events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The spooky-season slot opens a lane to dominate 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy style can feel prestige on a mid-range budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio mounts two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is framing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both core fans and first-timers. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can increase large-format demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in minute detail and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The distributor has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s releases window into copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that enhances both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video stitches together catalogue additions with global pickups and targeted theatrical runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in archive usage, using seasonal hubs, spooky hubs, and curated rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival buys, confirming horror entries on shorter runways and eventizing go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has proven amenable to purchase select projects with award winners or marquee packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation peaks.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 pipeline with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, modernized for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a standard theatrical run for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through select festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception justifies. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using limited runs to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchises versus originals

By number, 2026 tips toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on legacy awareness. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to present each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the team and cast is anchored enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the playbook. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept streaming intact did not deter a same-day experiment from working when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they pivot perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to cross-link entries through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror signal a continued bias toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that elevates unease and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in feature stories and guild coverage before rolling out a preview that leans on mood over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which favor convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel key. Look for trailers that spotlight fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that work in PLF.

Calendar cadence

January is loaded. 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 heavier IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the variety of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. 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 hold in chatter into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s synthetic partner turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

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 be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 difficult boss fight to survive on a remote island as the control balance swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to terror, based on Cronin’s physical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. 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 home-set haunting setup that explores the panic of a child’s unreliable senses. Rating: TBA. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed and star-fronted haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A genre lampoon that targets modern genre fads and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras due to roll 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 detonates, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: pending. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A new start designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: proceeding. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces shape this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or migrated in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and compressed 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 surpassed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, select scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, clearing runway for genre entries that can lead a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 this page to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, 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 conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, audio design, and cinematography 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, Lined Up To Scare

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the fear sell the seats.