Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One chilling unearthly fright fest from writer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an archaic entity when newcomers become pawns in a hellish experiment. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing account of resilience and timeless dread that will transform the horror genre this fall. Crafted by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and immersive suspense flick follows five young adults who regain consciousness sealed in a wooded cabin under the malevolent influence of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a legendary sacred-era entity. Be prepared to be shaken by a filmic display that merges instinctive fear with mystical narratives, arriving on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a legendary tradition in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is redefined when the beings no longer develop from external sources, but rather inside their minds. This marks the most sinister version of the protagonists. The result is a riveting identity crisis where the narrative becomes a intense clash between righteousness and malevolence.


In a forsaken outland, five adults find themselves contained under the malevolent control and grasp of a mysterious female figure. As the ensemble becomes vulnerable to oppose her curse, stranded and pursued by beings ungraspable, they are cornered to confront their soulful dreads while the timeline unforgivingly draws closer toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust grows and ties crack, requiring each figure to reconsider their identity and the integrity of liberty itself. The hazard rise with every heartbeat, delivering a frightening tale that blends demonic fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to tap into elemental fright, an darkness that predates humanity, embedding itself in psychological breaks, and questioning a entity that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra demanded embodying something unfamiliar to reason. She is unaware until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is soul-crushing because it is so private.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering users no matter where they are can watch this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its original promo, which has collected over massive response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Mark your calendar for this mind-warping journey into fear. Join *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to witness these ghostly lessons about the psyche.


For sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and alerts from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official movie site.





Current horror’s tipping point: the 2025 cycle U.S. Slate fuses ancient-possession motifs, underground frights, stacked beside legacy-brand quakes

From endurance-driven terror steeped in primordial scripture through to franchise returns plus focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into the genre’s most multifaceted combined with deliberate year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. the big studios set cornerstones with established lines, as SVOD players front-load the fall with new perspectives set against mythic dread. Meanwhile, the independent cohort is catching the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween stays the prime week, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: The Return of Prestige Fear

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s distribution arm fires the first shot with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, instead in a current-day frame. Led by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. timed for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer winds down, Warner’s schedule launches the swan song from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and those signature textures resurface: 70s style chill, 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.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It drops in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a smart play. No bloated canon. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends 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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The next fright slate: installments, universe starters, as well as A hectic Calendar optimized for chills

Dek: The new scare season loads up front with a January pile-up, following that runs through the warm months, and far into the holiday frame, combining legacy muscle, original angles, and data-minded counterweight. The major players are doubling down on responsible budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-driven marketing that transform genre titles into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

Horror filmmaking has become the dependable option in release strategies, a category that can break out when it breaks through and still safeguard the drag when it stumbles. After the 2023 year signaled to executives that low-to-mid budget genre plays can lead the national conversation, 2024 maintained heat with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The carry flowed into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and filmmaker-prestige bets made clear there is appetite for different modes, from series extensions to filmmaker-driven originals that translate worldwide. The sum for the 2026 slate is a grid that seems notably aligned across companies, with strategic blocks, a harmony of brand names and untested plays, and a revived commitment on big-screen windows that power the aftermarket on premium rental and streaming.

Executives say the horror lane now works like a plug-and-play option on the programming map. The genre can open on nearly any frame, furnish a clean hook for spots and social clips, and outperform with viewers that lean in on early shows and stick through the second weekend if the picture hits. Post a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration signals comfort in that approach. The slate starts with a crowded January block, then turns to spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while carving room for a fall corridor that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The arrangement also reflects the increasing integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and expand at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across shared universes and legacy IP. The studios are not just turning out another sequel. They are aiming to frame connection with a premium feel, whether that is a title treatment that flags a new vibe or a ensemble decision that anchors a upcoming film to a initial period. At the simultaneously, the filmmakers behind the most buzzed-about originals are doubling down on physical effects work, on-set effects and grounded locations. That mix yields the 2026 slate a confident blend of known notes and freshness, which is what works overseas.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount defines the early cadence with two big-ticket releases that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, positioning the film as both a baton pass and a back-to-basics character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the authorial approach suggests a classic-referencing approach without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. Expect a marketing push anchored in franchise iconography, character previews, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will foreground. As a summer relief option, this one will go after mainstream recognition through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever drives trend lines that spring.

Universal has three clear projects. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is efficient, heartbroken, and easily pitched: a grieving man purchases an synthetic partner that evolves into a harmful mate. The date sets it at the front of a thick month, with the marketing arm likely to mirror off-kilter promo beats and quick hits that blurs longing and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a final title to become an fan moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s pictures are sold as director events, with a mystery-first teaser and a follow-up trailer set that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-October frame gives Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a raw, practical-effects forward execution can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror surge that maximizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio places two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a consistent supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is framing as a reimagined restart 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 explicit mandate to serve both fans and curious audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around world-building, and monster craft, elements that can stoke IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a stair-step that amplifies both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using seasonal hubs, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to stretch the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival buys, confirming horror entries near their drops and framing as events arrivals with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of limited theatrical footprints and prompt platform moves that translates talk to trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a this contact form case-by-case basis. The platform has signaled readiness to secure select projects with established auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 lane with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a standard theatrical run for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then working the December frame to move out. That positioning has proved effective for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception justifies. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their audience.

Balance of brands and originals

By skew, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use franchise value. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the deal build is comforting enough to build pre-sales and early previews.

Comparable trends from recent years clarify the approach. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not deter a day-date move from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they rotate perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through protagonists and motifs and to maintain a flow of assets without lulls.

Production craft signals

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 entries hint at a continued emphasis on material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers unease and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and gathers shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature craft and set design, which are ideal for convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel primary. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that work in PLF.

Calendar cadence

January is jammed. 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 somber counterpoint amid headline IP. The month closes 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 formidable, but the palette of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can pop 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 moved through premium slots.

August and September into October leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited information drops that trade in concept over detail.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can hold in the holidays when Check This Out packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and holiday card usage.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s algorithmic partner becomes something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: tone-first 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 abrasive boss push to survive on a lonely island as the hierarchy inverts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 family-home haunting scenario that explores the dread of a child’s wobbly perspective. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A parody reboot that lampoons of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime manias. Rating: to be announced. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 ignites, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new clan lashed to past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: TBA. Production: proceeding. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up with December 25 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or rearranged in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will coexist across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, 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 sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, 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 visual texture, sound, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for 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, produce clean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.