Primeval Evil Emerges within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

One spine-tingling spectral scare-fest from screenwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an timeless entity when unrelated individuals become tools in a devilish ordeal. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing saga of perseverance and age-old darkness that will revolutionize terror storytelling this fall. Created by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and claustrophobic feature follows five people who snap to sealed in a remote cabin under the sinister sway of Kyra, a tormented girl overtaken by a ancient scriptural evil. Get ready to be shaken by a theatrical display that melds instinctive fear with spiritual backstory, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a recurring tradition in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is subverted when the fiends no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the darkest shade of the players. The result is a relentless cognitive warzone where the story becomes a ongoing conflict between purity and corruption.


In a unforgiving forest, five souls find themselves marooned under the dark control and infestation of a uncanny female figure. As the characters becomes incapable to fight her will, cut off and attacked by terrors ungraspable, they are thrust to encounter their inner demons while the deathwatch unforgivingly pushes forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety grows and relationships erode, urging each character to scrutinize their identity and the philosophy of free will itself. The cost accelerate with every beat, delivering a horror experience that combines occult fear with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dig into core terror, an malevolence rooted in antiquity, working through mental cracks, and navigating a will that questions who we are when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra involved tapping into something past sanity. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that flip is eerie because it is so raw.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering audiences around the globe can survive this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first trailer, which has collected over 100,000 views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, offering the tale to a global viewership.


Avoid skipping this cinematic exploration of dread. Stream *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to uncover these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, making-of footage, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the film’s website.





American horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. release slate braids together Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, set against series shake-ups

Beginning with survival horror suffused with near-Eastern lore and stretching into franchise returns alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted as well as intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios lay down anchors with familiar IP, even as streaming platforms prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against ancestral chills. Meanwhile, the independent cohort is riding the uplift of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are precise, which means 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 doubles down.

Universal Pictures starts the year with a statement play: a modernized Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a modern-day environment. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Booked into mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Eli Craig directs fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer tapers, Warner’s slate launches the swan song of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re teams, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma as text, and a cold supernatural calculus. This run ups the stakes, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It opens in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Plays: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside 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.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is canny scheduling. No swollen lore. No brand fatigue. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Long Running Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. 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.

Trends to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

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

SVOD originals harden up
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival buzz converts to 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 becomes a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Season Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The 2026 genre year to come: continuations, filmmaker-first projects, plus A Crowded Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek The incoming horror season stacks from day one with a January crush, then carries through the summer months, and running into the year-end corridor, weaving franchise firepower, untold stories, and data-minded counterplay. Studios and streamers are embracing responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that frame these films into all-audience topics.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the predictable release in studio lineups, a pillar that can surge when it clicks and still buffer the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year re-taught leaders that mid-range horror vehicles can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with director-led heat and under-the-radar smashes. The trend extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and elevated films highlighted there is capacity for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that play globally. The combined impact for 2026 is a lineup that looks unusually coordinated across the industry, with defined corridors, a combination of established brands and fresh ideas, and a recommitted eye on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and platforms.

Insiders argue the genre now functions as a plug-and-play option on the schedule. The genre can arrive on many corridors, generate a grabby hook for marketing and shorts, and overperform with audiences that respond on Thursday previews and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the film satisfies. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 mapping demonstrates faith in that model. The slate starts with a heavy January stretch, then plants flags in spring and early summer for balance, while reserving space for a October build that stretches into All Hallows period and beyond. The map also illustrates the tightening integration of specialized imprints and home platforms that can stage a platform run, ignite recommendations, and widen at the sweet spot.

A parallel macro theme is brand curation across linked properties and established properties. Major shops are not just producing another entry. They are shaping as lore continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a title design that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a casting pivot that bridges a next film to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the creative teams behind the high-profile originals are celebrating on-set craft, in-camera effects and specific settings. That mix affords 2026 a confident blend of assurance and newness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount establishes early momentum with two headline moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the heart, signaling it as both a handoff and a heritage-centered character-centered film. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the creative posture signals a legacy-leaning strategy without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run built on recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a rollout cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will drive wide appeal this content through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick reframes to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is simple, grief-rooted, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an intelligent companion that mutates into a perilous partner. The date places it at the front of a busy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to echo uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that threads longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read 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 allows a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s work are treated as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a later creative that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween runway allows Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has shown that a visceral, practical-effects forward mix can feel high-value on a tight budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror rush that leans hard into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled imp source Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is positioning as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both loyalists and newcomers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build assets around narrative world, and creature design, elements that can lift deluxe auditorium demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by rigorous craft and historical speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

Platform lanes and windowing

Windowing plans in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s releases feed copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a cadence that maximizes both first-week urgency and sign-up momentum in the downstream. Prime Video interleaves library titles with global originals and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library engagement, using curated hubs, fright rows, and staff picks to keep attention on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays opportunistic about internal projects and festival additions, slotting horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops arrivals with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of focused cinema runs and fast windowing that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to secure select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly engagement when the genre conversation intensifies.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is curating a 2026 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is simple: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, modernized for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, managing the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, 2026 is weighted toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is brand wear. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is comforting enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night crowds.

Three-year comps make sense of the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not obstruct a dual release from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to continue assets in field without extended gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind 2026 horror hint at a continued preference for material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that centers unease and texture rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that keeps plot minimal, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster aesthetics and world-building, which fit with fan-con activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that highlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tonal variety lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s machine mate evolves into something dangerously intimate. 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 tough boss scramble to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic turns and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to menace, based on Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting scenario that refracts terror through a youth’s uncertain subjective lens. Rating: rating pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that needles present-day genre chatter and true-crime manias. Rating: pending. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. 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 breaks out, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further widens again, with a unlucky family tethered to ancient dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top this contact form cast: TBD. Logline: A reboot designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survivalist horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: not yet rated. Production: ongoing. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 language and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three nuts-and-bolts forces organize this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine clippable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will compete across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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-hit hunt 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sonics, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shocks sell the seats.