Age-old Horror Emerges within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled horror feature, launching October 2025 across top digital platforms

An eerie paranormal terror film from author / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an ancient force when unknowns become tokens in a demonic ceremony. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful portrayal of resistance and prehistoric entity that will redefine the horror genre this fall. Realized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and cinematic story follows five unknowns who regain consciousness isolated in a unreachable shack under the dark manipulation of Kyra, a mysterious girl claimed by a 2,000-year-old sacrosanct terror. Brace yourself to be captivated by a audio-visual journey that combines bone-deep fear with folklore, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a legendary fixture in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is reimagined when the dark entities no longer develop from a different plane, but rather inside their minds. This represents the most primal part of the victims. The result is a riveting inner struggle where the suspense becomes a relentless push-pull between innocence and sin.


In a desolate no-man's-land, five campers find themselves trapped under the malicious effect and overtake of a obscure woman. As the group becomes helpless to fight her control, exiled and followed by evils unfathomable, they are compelled to encounter their soulful dreads while the countdown brutally winds toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear deepens and alliances implode, urging each individual to doubt their existence and the notion of personal agency itself. The intensity rise with every passing moment, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that combines supernatural terror with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to uncover deep fear, an malevolence that predates humanity, channeling itself through our fears, and challenging a darkness that peels away humanity when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra required summoning something deeper than fear. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that metamorphosis is deeply unsettling because it is so internal.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for on-demand beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—delivering fans in all regions can dive into this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has been viewed over notable views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, giving access to the movie to thrill-seekers globally.


Join this gripping path of possession. Stream *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to face these evil-rooted truths about the psyche.


For sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and press updates via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across online outlets and visit the movie’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. release slate fuses archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, alongside IP aftershocks

Across survival horror suffused with scriptural legend to brand-name continuations in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 is shaping up as horror’s most layered and blueprinted year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios hold down the year with established lines, concurrently streamers crowd the fall with new voices paired with archetypal fear. On the festival side, the independent cohort is buoyed by the tailwinds from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween stays the prime week, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are targeted, hence 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Elevated fear reclaims ground

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

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with a headline swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, inside today’s landscape. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer fades, the Warner lot releases the last chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with 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 is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: retro dread, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a close quarters body horror study with 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 is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn led by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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 canny scheduling. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

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

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, under Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With sharp marketing, it could translate to 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

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 genre Year Ahead: brand plays, Originals, as well as A busy Calendar designed for screams

Dek: The incoming horror season lines up at the outset with a January logjam, subsequently stretches through peak season, and well into the winter holidays, fusing IP strength, creative pitches, and savvy counterplay. Studios and streamers are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that pivot these releases into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has solidified as the predictable counterweight in release plans, a segment that can scale when it resonates and still mitigate the liability when it underperforms. After 2023 reassured top brass that cost-conscious horror vehicles can lead the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with auteur-driven buzzy films and stealth successes. The tailwind rolled into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays signaled there is an opening for several lanes, from continued chapters to one-and-done originals that scale internationally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a programming that is strikingly coherent across companies, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of marquee IP and new concepts, and a re-energized strategy on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital and streaming.

Studio leaders note the genre now serves as a flex slot on the programming map. Horror can arrive on open real estate, offer a simple premise for previews and social clips, and outperform with audiences that appear on previews Thursday and sustain through the second frame if the offering connects. Emerging from a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm telegraphs conviction in that equation. The year opens with a busy January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for audience offsets, while making space for a autumn stretch that carries into the fright window and afterwards. The map also spotlights the continuing integration of indie arms and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, build word of mouth, and broaden at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across brand ecosystems and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just releasing another return. They are shaping as threaded continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a new tone or a casting move that threads a new entry to a heyday. At the very same time, the auteurs behind the most buzzed-about originals are returning to practical craft, physical gags and specific settings. That pairing offers the 2026 slate a solid mix of familiarity and unexpected turns, which is the formula for international play.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount sets the tone early with two big-ticket moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a legacy handover and a origin-leaning character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture indicates a classic-referencing bent without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected driven by Check This Out franchise iconography, initial cast looks, and a trailer cadence slated for 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mainstream recognition through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick switches to whatever owns the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three defined plays. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that becomes a fatal companion. The date positions it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to recreate eerie street stunts and short-cut promos that interweaves intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s pictures are presented as must-see filmmaker statements, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor offers Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has established that a gnarly, in-camera leaning style can feel deluxe on a tight budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror rush that centers foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, carrying a consistent supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is billing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can amplify PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror defined by historical precision and period speech, this time set against lycan legends. The company has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is robust.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform tactics for 2026 run on proven patterns. The studio’s horror films flow to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ladder that optimizes both opening-weekend urgency and trial spikes in the later phase. Prime Video interleaves acquired titles with global acquisitions and select theatrical runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in back-catalog play, using editorial spots, genre hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on overall cume. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix originals and festival grabs, confirming horror entries tight to release and coalescing around rollouts with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a dual-phase of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, recalibrated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a theatrical rollout for the title, an promising marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday slot to broaden. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-first horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception merits. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using limited theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchises versus originals

By number, 2026 leans in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on cultural cachet. The risk, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to brand each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is this content indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and auteur plays keep the lungs full. 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, places Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the team and cast is familiar enough to spark pre-sales and early previews.

Recent-year comps outline the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that held distribution windows did not deter a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was trusted. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror hit big in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 great post to read Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, gives leeway to marketing to bridge entries through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

How the films are being made

The craft rooms behind the year’s horror signal a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that highlights unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft profiles 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 tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-referential reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature work and production design, which play well in fan conventions and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that explode in larger rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is full. 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the variety of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Winter into spring seed summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines 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 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus 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 add screens in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s virtual companion unfolds into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 unyielding boss work to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to horror, built on Cronin’s practical effects and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting story that toys with the fear of a child’s wobbly perspective. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-crafted and name-above-title supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A comic send-up that satirizes today’s horror trends and true crime fixations. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new family caught in ancient dread. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival-driven horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. 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 period-precise speech and elemental dread. Rating: TBA. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why this year, why now

Three operational forces structure this lineup. First, production that stalled or shifted in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming launches. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will coexist across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first 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. 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead 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 credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, soundcraft, and cinematography that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand equity where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.