Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on top streamers

One eerie spectral nightmare movie from author / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an forgotten terror when newcomers become tokens in a satanic contest. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing saga of survival and timeless dread that will redefine the fear genre this October. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie tale follows five individuals who suddenly rise confined in a hidden shack under the oppressive grip of Kyra, a female lead controlled by a prehistoric scriptural evil. Be prepared to be drawn in by a narrative experience that unites deep-seated panic with timeless legends, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a classic foundation in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is challenged when the malevolences no longer emerge from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This symbolizes the haunting corner of each of them. The result is a emotionally raw inner struggle where the events becomes a soul-crushing push-pull between purity and corruption.


In a unforgiving outland, five adults find themselves stuck under the malevolent dominion and domination of a uncanny female presence. As the ensemble becomes defenseless to withstand her control, detached and stalked by entities unfathomable, they are confronted to acknowledge their emotional phantoms while the countdown unceasingly ticks toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear swells and ties erode, coercing each protagonist to challenge their values and the notion of self-determination itself. The threat intensify with every tick, delivering a frightening tale that harmonizes demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to uncover primal fear, an evil beyond recorded history, feeding on fragile psyche, and navigating a presence that questions who we are when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is in denial until the curse activates, and that change is harrowing because it is so internal.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for audiences beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—delivering subscribers internationally can dive into this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its intro video, which has collected over a viral response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to viewers around the world.


Do not miss this visceral exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to survive these spiritual awakenings about inner darkness.


For bonus footage, filmmaker commentary, and promotions from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursed across platforms and visit youngandcursed.com.





American horror’s decisive shift: the year 2025 U.S. rollouts blends old-world possession, independent shockers, plus franchise surges

Running from survivor-centric dread steeped in biblical myth to legacy revivals paired with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex plus tactically planned year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. leading studios set cornerstones by way of signature titles, even as platform operators prime the fall with discovery plays in concert with primordial unease. On another front, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the kinetic energy of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are calculated, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s pipeline fires the first shot with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in an immediate now. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer tapers, the WB camp launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma in the foreground, with spooky supernatural reasoning. 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 franchise that brings its own crowd. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, grows the animatronic horror lineup, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It arrives in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror duet with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It looks like sharp programming. No overweight mythology. No franchise baggage. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. 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 slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Heritage Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, guided by 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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

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

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The approaching spook lineup: returning titles, original films, as well as A hectic Calendar engineered for goosebumps

Dek The upcoming genre year clusters up front with a January wave, from there carries through June and July, and running into the holiday frame, weaving franchise firepower, inventive spins, and calculated alternatives. Studio marketers and platforms are leaning into tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and influencer-ready assets that shape these offerings into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror sector has established itself as the surest option in distribution calendars, a segment that can lift when it connects and still limit the drag when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught greenlighters that cost-conscious genre plays can own the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and stealth successes. The run flowed into 2025, where revivals and filmmaker-prestige bets underscored there is an opening for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to original features that scale internationally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across companies, with defined corridors, a pairing of brand names and untested plays, and a reinvigorated focus on box-office windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and digital services.

Schedulers say the horror lane now operates like a flex slot on the distribution slate. Horror can debut on nearly any frame, create a clear pitch for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and overperform with ticket buyers that arrive on first-look nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the release works. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 mapping shows faith in that playbook. The calendar starts with a crowded January lineup, then exploits spring through early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a fall run that runs into holiday-adjacent weekends and into post-Halloween. The layout also illustrates the stronger partnership of indie arms and digital platforms that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and scale up at the timely point.

Another broad trend is brand management across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. Studios are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are moving to present story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a re-angled tone or a star attachment that ties a next entry to a classic era. At the in tandem, the helmers behind the most watched originals are favoring on-set craft, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That combination yields 2026 a lively combination of home base and newness, which is how the films export.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two high-profile titles that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the center, marketing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a heritage-centered character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture signals a roots-evoking angle without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Plan for a rollout rooted in signature symbols, character spotlights, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build large awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format fitting quick redirects to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate plays. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is elegant, melancholic, and premise-first: a grieving man sets up an virtual partner that mutates into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to mirror uncanny-valley stunts and short-cut promos that interlaces longing and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a name unveil to become an earned moment closer to the initial promo. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are treated as marquee events, with a hinting teaser and a next wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-month date creates space for Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has shown that a in-your-face, prosthetic-heavy style can feel prestige on a moderate cost. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that leans hard into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio deploys two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, continuing a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch gestates. 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 positioning as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around world-building, and creature design, elements that can accelerate premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

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 defined by rigorous craft and language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The distributor has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is warm.

Platform lanes and windowing

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The studio’s horror films transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that fortifies both FOMO and sub growth in the downstream. Prime Video pairs outside acquisitions with global originals and limited runs in theaters when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in deep cuts, using in-app campaigns, fright rows, and programmed rows to sustain interest on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries on shorter runways and eventizing releases with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and fast windowing that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown appetite to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for sustained usage when the genre conversation builds.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 pipeline with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a cinema-first plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has served the company well for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception encourages. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subs.

Legacy titles versus originals

By weight, 2026 skews toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use name recognition. The risk, as ever, is viewer burnout. The operating solution is to frame each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and director-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the assembly is assuring enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent comps make sense of the logic. In 2023, a cinema-first model that kept streaming intact did not block a day-and-date experiment from hitting when the brand was robust. In 2024, director-craft horror surged in large-format rooms. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, enables marketing to link the films through character arcs and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind these films indicate a continued emphasis on real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that foregrounds tone and tension rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and department features before rolling out a tone piece that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature design and production design, which match well with expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that accent hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. 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 bigger brand plays. The month buttons 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 meaningful, but the variety of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, movies New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a late-September window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a opaque tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s virtual companion mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 meet a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss battle to survive on a cut-off island as the power balance of power shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-front survival film 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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, founded on Cronin’s on-set craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting narrative that twists the unease of a child’s fragile perspective. Rating: TBD. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-scale and star-led supernatural suspense.

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 parody reboot that riffs on current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new household anchored to past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-driven horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: forthcoming. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why this year, why now

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage social-ready stingers from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can command a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will trade weekends across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the target range. 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where midrange-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 work those windows. 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. 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, tight deployments, 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 materiality, soundcraft, and visuals 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 in place. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the frights sell the seats.