Mythic Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across major platforms

A hair-raising paranormal suspense film from literary architect / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an timeless force when foreigners become subjects in a diabolical ritual. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing tale of perseverance and primordial malevolence that will reconstruct scare flicks this season. Guided by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and tone-heavy motion picture follows five people who find themselves ensnared in a unreachable cottage under the malevolent sway of Kyra, a haunted figure possessed by a timeless ancient fiend. Prepare to be drawn in by a screen-based event that combines visceral dread with ancient myths, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a long-standing theme in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is flipped when the presences no longer manifest outside the characters, but rather from deep inside. This marks the most hidden element of the players. The result is a relentless spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a relentless fight between light and darkness.


In a isolated woodland, five characters find themselves cornered under the ominous force and domination of a haunted apparition. As the ensemble becomes defenseless to resist her manipulation, detached and targeted by spirits indescribable, they are pushed to confront their greatest panics while the timeline ruthlessly runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust surges and friendships disintegrate, demanding each protagonist to rethink their core and the idea of decision-making itself. The tension surge with every breath, delivering a frightening tale that merges unearthly horror with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to tap into deep fear, an force before modern man, embedding itself in fragile psyche, and dealing with a power that strips down our being when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra was about accessing something beneath mortal despair. She is blind until the haunting manifests, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so raw.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing audiences from coast to coast can survive this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its intro video, which has garnered over massive response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, delivering the story to viewers around the world.


Tune in for this haunted ride through nightmares. Stream *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to survive these spiritual awakenings about the mind.


For exclusive trailers, director cuts, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across media channels and visit the movie’s homepage.





Current horror’s inflection point: 2025 across markets U.S. calendar melds primeval-possession lore, independent shockers, paired with returning-series thunder

Beginning with pressure-cooker survival tales suffused with mythic scripture as well as franchise returns plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated in tandem with strategic year for the modern era.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. top-tier distributors lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, at the same time platform operators stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs and old-world menace. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is catching the uplift of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium genre swings back

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s slate opens the year with a big gambit: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Eli Craig directs starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer tapers, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as theme, plus otherworld rules that chill. The bar is raised this go, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, broadens the animatronic terror cast, courting teens and the thirty something base. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Authored and directed 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 bloated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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 through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror retakes ground
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Fall saturation and a winter joker

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 genre year to come: Sequels, non-franchise titles, as well as A packed Calendar Built For goosebumps

Dek: The current scare calendar lines up right away with a January crush, subsequently unfolds through peak season, and carrying into the year-end corridor, weaving IP strength, creative pitches, and data-minded counterplay. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that elevate the slate’s entries into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has shown itself to be the steady move in release strategies, a vertical that can scale when it resonates and still hedge the liability when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year reminded studio brass that lean-budget horror vehicles can drive the discourse, 2024 carried the beat with filmmaker-forward plays and quiet over-performers. The momentum rolled into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers underscored there is demand for diverse approaches, from continued chapters to fresh IP that scale internationally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a run that appears tightly organized across studios, with clear date clusters, a equilibrium of legacy names and novel angles, and a renewed priority on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital rental and streaming.

Insiders argue the horror lane now acts as a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can open on numerous frames, supply a simple premise for ad units and social clips, and lead with viewers that respond on advance nights and maintain momentum through the subsequent weekend if the film hits. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 setup reflects faith in that equation. The slate opens with a thick January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a September to October window that pushes into All Hallows period and past Halloween. The layout also underscores the stronger partnership of specialized imprints and SVOD players that can platform and widen, grow buzz, and widen at the proper time.

A reinforcing pattern is IP cultivation across unified worlds and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just producing another sequel. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a brandmark that announces a re-angled tone or a ensemble decision that reconnects a next film to a heyday. At the very same time, the helmers behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing physical effects work, real effects and distinct locales. That pairing offers 2026 a solid mix of known notes and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile titles that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative stance points to a roots-evoking bent without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on brand visuals, early character teases, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mass reach through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format supporting quick updates to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, sorrow-tinged, and big-hook: a grieving man activates an synthetic partner that turns into a lethal partner. The date places it at the front of a thick month, with marketing at Universal likely to renew odd public stunts and short-cut promos that threads devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a branding reveal to become an headline beat closer to the early tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room to dominate 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a in-your-face, hands-on effects aesthetic can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror surge that embraces global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, keeping a trusty supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is selling as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both devotees and fresh viewers. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by historical precision and dialect, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate land on copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a stair-step that elevates both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library pulls, using editorial spots, fright rows, and programmed rows to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix keeps flexible about original films and festival buys, timing horror entries tight to release and staging as events debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and quick platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown a willingness to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 slate with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clean: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, updated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a traditional cinema play for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday frame to move out. That positioning has been successful for prestige horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By count, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit marquee value. The caveat, as ever, is brand wear. The workable fix is to market each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is elevating character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is floating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is familiar enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and first-night audiences.

Past-three-year patterns outline the plan. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a day-date move from performing when the brand was compelling. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, lets marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

Production craft signals

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate forecast a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores creep and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in long-lead press and technical spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and produces shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta refresh that centers its original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature craft and set design, which play well in fan conventions and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is jammed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the spread of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late summer into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that center concept over reveals.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card redemption.

Project briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s AI companion mutates into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 abrasive boss fight to survive on a uninhabited island as the control dynamic reverses and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to chill, built on Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting tale that toys with the terror of a child’s tricky read. Rating: pending. Production: in Source the can. Positioning: studio-built and A-list fronted paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that targets hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: cameras due to roll 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 bursts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family entangled with residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-first horror over action fireworks. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: undetermined. Production: continuing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and primordial menace. Rating: pending. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the moment is 2026

Three workable forces inform this lineup. First, production that paused or shuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming releases. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can command a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will trade weekends across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. 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.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 use those gaps. 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundcraft, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.