Ancient Evil Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling chiller, arriving October 2025 across premium platforms

This haunting mystic suspense story from dramatist / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an age-old nightmare when guests become victims in a supernatural ceremony. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful tale of perseverance and forgotten curse that will remodel the horror genre this scare season. Created by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and eerie fearfest follows five people who come to ensnared in a wilderness-bound wooden structure under the hostile power of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a two-thousand-year-old ancient fiend. Prepare to be seized by a cinematic presentation that blends gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a long-standing motif in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is subverted when the forces no longer come externally, but rather from within. This illustrates the most sinister version of the protagonists. The result is a emotionally raw spiritual tug-of-war where the events becomes a unyielding fight between heaven and hell.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five teens find themselves cornered under the malevolent influence and haunting of a haunted being. As the ensemble becomes incapable to fight her grasp, marooned and attacked by powers beyond reason, they are obligated to stand before their raw vulnerabilities while the countdown brutally runs out toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion amplifies and friendships break, compelling each survivor to contemplate their identity and the idea of self-determination itself. The stakes amplify with every beat, delivering a chilling narrative that combines demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke pure dread, an curse beyond time, embedding itself in inner turmoil, and highlighting a darkness that forces self-examination when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra demanded embodying something darker than pain. She is unseeing until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is soul-crushing because it is so close.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing streamers worldwide can watch this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first preview, which has seen over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Mark your calendar for this heart-stopping voyage through terror. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to uncover these chilling revelations about the soul.


For director insights, production news, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit our spooky domain.





U.S. horror’s watershed moment: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate weaves myth-forward possession, signature indie scares, plus brand-name tremors

Moving from fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with primordial scripture and extending to canon extensions in concert with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the richest plus precision-timed year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses plant stakes across the year with known properties, at the same time OTT services stack the fall with unboxed visions set against primordial unease. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is buoyed by the kinetic energy of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The fall stretch is the proving field, distinctly in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, thus 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige fear returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm opens the year with a big gambit: a refashioned Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Booked into mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer wanes, Warner’s pipeline sets loose the finale from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Though the formula is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson re boards, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, paired with unsettling supernatural order. Here the stakes rise, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, courting teens and the thirty something base. It opens in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Tight funds, wide impact

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a tight space body horror vignette starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Next comes Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with 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.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Conceived 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 darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is an astute call. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy IP: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, steered by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Key Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

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

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. 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.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The upcoming chiller slate: next chapters, fresh concepts, and also A packed Calendar Built For shocks

Dek The brand-new scare cycle stacks in short order with a January bottleneck, and then stretches through peak season, and deep into the holiday stretch, blending marquee clout, inventive spins, and shrewd release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are embracing lean spends, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that position genre titles into culture-wide discussion.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror filmmaking has established itself as the surest swing in release plans, a lane that can expand when it hits and still mitigate the losses when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught greenlighters that disciplined-budget entries can shape the national conversation, the following year kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and surprise hits. The trend moved into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and festival-grade titles underscored there is room for varied styles, from legacy continuations to standalone ideas that travel well. The upshot for 2026 is a run that appears tightly organized across the major shops, with defined corridors, a blend of legacy names and untested plays, and a revived emphasis on exhibition windows that increase tail monetization on premium on-demand and digital services.

Executives say the genre now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. The genre can debut on a wide range of weekends, supply a grabby hook for creative and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with demo groups that appear on opening previews and continue through the next pass if the title connects. Following a production delay era, the 2026 mapping signals confidence in that logic. The slate starts with a crowded January block, then targets spring into early summer for off-slot scheduling, while holding room for a fall run that pushes into the Halloween frame and into the next week. The arrangement also features the expanded integration of arthouse labels and subscription services that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and grow at the optimal moment.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across ongoing universes and storied titles. Big banners are not just releasing another entry. They are looking to package story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a title design that telegraphs a new vibe or a casting choice that bridges a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the most anticipated originals are favoring hands-on technique, real effects and grounded locations. That interplay yields the 2026 slate a robust balance of known notes and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two centerpiece titles that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Get More Info Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the focus, angling it as both a cross-generational handoff and a return-to-roots character-centered film. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the tonal posture signals a heritage-honoring framework without looping the last two entries’ family thread. Plan for a rollout anchored in legacy iconography, first-look character reveals, and a trailer cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also brings back 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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will double down on. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick turns to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is crisp, grief-rooted, and high-concept: a grieving man sets up an synthetic partner that escalates into a deadly partner. The date lines it up at the front of a crowded corridor, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back viral uncanny stunts and short-cut promos that interlaces attachment and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a public title to become an fan moment closer to the initial tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are treated as creative events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, physical-effects centered style can feel big on a disciplined budget. Look for a red-band summer horror surge that embraces worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is marketing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and fresh viewers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build assets around lore, and creature design, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by obsessive craft and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is enthusiastic.

Digital platform strategies

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on predictable routes. The studio’s horror films feed copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that amplifies both premiere heat and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video blends licensed films with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival buys, timing horror entries tight to release and elevating as drops debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of targeted theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation peaks.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a standard theatrical run for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has served the company well for prestige horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception drives. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French sensibility from a emerging director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add oxygen. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is steady enough to generate pre-sales and early previews.

Comps from the last three years announce the method. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept streaming intact did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on 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 produced back-to-back, creates space for marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to hold creative in the market without extended gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The creative meetings behind the 2026 slate suggest a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo 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 moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and sparks shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work and world-building, which play well in convention floor stunts and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the variety of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

Winter into spring set up the summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges 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 serves ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Back half into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited disclosures that put concept first.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift card usage.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s machine mate becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 tough boss struggle to survive on a lonely island as the power dynamic tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to menace, anchored by Cronin’s physical craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 closed-door haunting setup that leverages the chill of a child’s wobbly POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed and headline-actor led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that skewers hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family snared by past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A new start designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: to be announced. 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: TBA. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBD. Production: underway. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and elemental menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 and why now

Three pragmatic forces define this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. 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.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where value-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 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sound field, and framing 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.