Primeval Dread reawakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked shocker, launching October 2025 on global platforms

This terrifying ghostly fright fest from scriptwriter / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an long-buried evil when newcomers become tools in a malevolent ritual. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking chronicle of struggle and old world terror that will alter horror this spooky time. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive screenplay follows five unacquainted souls who snap to ensnared in a far-off structure under the ominous will of Kyra, a tormented girl possessed by a legendary Old Testament spirit. Brace yourself to be enthralled by a screen-based event that unites primitive horror with legendary tales, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a long-standing foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is reversed when the demons no longer form outside the characters, but rather within themselves. This marks the most sinister part of the protagonists. The result is a bone-chilling spiritual tug-of-war where the narrative becomes a soul-crushing confrontation between purity and corruption.


In a forsaken outland, five young people find themselves caught under the dark control and control of a unknown entity. As the characters becomes powerless to evade her manipulation, exiled and stalked by forces ungraspable, they are obligated to acknowledge their greatest panics while the seconds ruthlessly ticks toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion intensifies and bonds break, prompting each member to examine their personhood and the principle of freedom of choice itself. The danger rise with every breath, delivering a cinematic nightmare that connects paranormal dread with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to tap into deep fear, an spirit rooted in antiquity, filtering through soul-level flaws, and questioning a evil that questions who we are when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra required summoning something rooted in terror. She is blind until the takeover begins, and that pivot is terrifying because it is so close.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for public screening beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing customers worldwide can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its initial teaser, which has garnered over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, offering the tale to global fright lovers.


Make sure to see this gripping spiral into evil. Watch *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to acknowledge these haunting secrets about the psyche.


For cast commentary, behind-the-scenes content, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across platforms and visit youngandcursed.com.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: the year 2025 domestic schedule integrates old-world possession, underground frights, set against legacy-brand quakes

Spanning survivor-centric dread steeped in biblical myth through to canon extensions alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted and deliberate year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses set cornerstones by way of signature titles, at the same time SVOD players crowd the fall with unboxed visions and primordial unease. On the independent axis, independent banners is buoyed by the afterglow of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal camp lights the fuse with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. set for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: 70s style chill, trauma explicitly handled, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

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

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Also notable is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Authored and directed 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No IP hangover. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror reemerges
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Season Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new spook lineup: returning titles, non-franchise titles, paired with A loaded Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek: The current genre slate crams from day one with a January glut, from there unfolds through the warm months, and deep into the winter holidays, combining name recognition, untold stories, and data-minded counter-scheduling. Major distributors and platforms are embracing responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that shape the slate’s entries into mainstream chatter.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The field has turned into the most reliable counterweight in studio slates, a lane that can spike when it connects and still safeguard the downside when it misses. After the 2023 year reassured executives that mid-range genre plays can lead the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and stealth successes. The head of steam rolled into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings made clear there is space for a spectrum, from continued chapters to original one-offs that scale internationally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a blend of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a revived attention on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on premium digital and SVOD.

Buyers contend the genre now functions as a plug-and-play option on the calendar. The genre can kick off on many corridors, create a grabby hook for creative and reels, and overperform with viewers that turn out on early shows and stick through the second weekend if the feature satisfies. After a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 pattern shows certainty in that logic. The slate rolls out with a crowded January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for contrast, while making space for a fall run that carries into Halloween and into the next week. The arrangement also includes the expanded integration of specialty distributors and streaming partners that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and expand at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is brand management across shared IP webs and established properties. Distribution groups are not just pushing another follow-up. They are moving to present threaded continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a new tone or a star attachment that connects a next film to a original cycle. At the very same time, the filmmakers behind the top original plays are leaning into on-set craft, physical gags and specific settings. That mix hands 2026 a robust balance of comfort and novelty, which is what works overseas.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount sets the tone early with two front-of-slate pushes that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the heart, presenting it as both a succession moment and a classic-mode character-forward chapter. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the tonal posture hints at a classic-referencing mode without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected centered on iconic art, character spotlights, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will lean on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase broad awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format allowing quick reframes to whatever leads the social talk that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is simple, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that evolves into a killer companion. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to mirror strange in-person beats and snackable content that interweaves longing and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a proper title to become an earned moment closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are presented as signature events, with a teaser that reveals little and a subsequent trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date lets the studio to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has long shown that a in-your-face, physical-effects centered treatment can feel elevated on a lean spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror rush that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, carrying a reliable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is framing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both diehards and curious audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes 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 language, this time driven by werewolf stories. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform windowing in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The studio’s horror films move to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a tiered path that enhances both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video stitches together catalogue additions with global pickups and limited cinema engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library curation, using prominent placements, holiday hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about first-party entries and festival snaps, dating horror entries closer to drop and making event-like launches with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a hybrid of targeted cinema placements and swift platform pivots that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star-driven 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 benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 track with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is no-nonsense: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, updated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday corridor to go wider. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-driven genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Do not be surprised by 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 together, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By skew, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on legacy awareness. The risk, as ever, is viewer burnout. The go-to fix is to market each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is spotlighting character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the package is grounded enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years announce the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that maintained windows did not stop a simultaneous release test from paying off when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror surged in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without pause points.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind this slate point to a continued preference for tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that leans on grain and menace rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that withholds plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and creates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which play well in booth activations and guarded reveals. 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 underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the menu of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited teasers that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s algorithmic partner grows into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: atmospheric game 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 severe boss push to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic upends and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, built on Cronin’s material craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting narrative that frames the panic through a kid’s wavering point of view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 era-faithful speech and primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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. Check This Out Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why this year, why now

Three pragmatic forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will cluster across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. 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.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, 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 rhythm and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, right-sized allotments, 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 tactility, audio design, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.