Primordial Dread stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

One hair-raising ghostly terror film from storyteller / director Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an age-old horror when foreigners become conduits in a satanic struggle. Dropping October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish depiction of living through and timeless dread that will alter genre cinema this Halloween season. Created by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and claustrophobic screenplay follows five strangers who awaken isolated in a unreachable dwelling under the malevolent dominion of Kyra, a tormented girl overtaken by a legendary scriptural evil. Arm yourself to be seized by a narrative presentation that fuses raw fear with timeless legends, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a enduring pillar in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is subverted when the monsters no longer arise from elsewhere, but rather inside their minds. This suggests the most hidden shade of all involved. The result is a edge-of-seat inner struggle where the suspense becomes a intense conflict between innocence and sin.


In a haunting natural abyss, five individuals find themselves trapped under the sinister sway and grasp of a unidentified woman. As the group becomes submissive to oppose her manipulation, abandoned and tormented by creatures beyond reason, they are cornered to wrestle with their greatest panics while the seconds harrowingly strikes toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust escalates and friendships disintegrate, pushing each character to reconsider their values and the notion of autonomy itself. The consequences grow with every tick, delivering a paranormal ride that weaves together unearthly horror with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dig into primal fear, an evil that existed before mankind, emerging via emotional fractures, and wrestling with a darkness that challenges autonomy when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra asked for exploring something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the invasion happens, and that transformation is gut-wrenching because it is so emotional.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—providing households across the world can engage with this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has seen over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, making the film to international horror buffs.


Join this unforgettable journey into fear. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to dive into these dark realities about the human condition.


For sneak peeks, set experiences, and press updates straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit our film’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 U.S. calendar blends ancient-possession motifs, Indie Shockers, in parallel with IP aftershocks

Running from life-or-death fear suffused with ancient scripture all the way to canon extensions together with acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become the most complex combined with calculated campaign year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. major banners hold down the year with established lines, concurrently subscription platforms stack the fall with fresh voices as well as ancient terrors. Across the art-house lane, the independent cohort is propelled by the echoes from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. A fat September–October lane is customary now, but this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are calculated, so 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: The Return of Prestige Fear

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 set the base, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. timed for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule releases the last chapter from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma foregrounded, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It posts in December, securing the winter cap.

SVOD Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with turns 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 expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a two hander body horror spiral pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and helmed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No sequel clutter. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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 Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror comes roaring back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Projection: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch 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 hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 terror slate: brand plays, original films, alongside A busy Calendar geared toward nightmares

Dek: The upcoming genre year loads up front with a January crush, then stretches through the mid-year, and continuing into the festive period, mixing brand equity, original angles, and tactical release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are committing to mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and viral-minded pushes that turn genre titles into national conversation.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The horror marketplace has solidified as the consistent tool in studio slates, a pillar that can break out when it performs and still safeguard the floor when it does not. After 2023 demonstrated to top brass that mid-range scare machines can command audience talk, 2024 sustained momentum with signature-voice projects and quiet over-performers. The carry moved into the 2025 frame, where revivals and premium-leaning entries signaled there is room for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to fresh IP that travel well. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a programming that appears tightly organized across studios, with clear date clusters, a spread of recognizable IP and novel angles, and a recommitted strategy on cinema windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital and platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now works like a versatile piece on the release plan. Horror can roll out on almost any weekend, provide a simple premise for previews and short-form placements, and punch above weight with patrons that come out on early shows and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the title connects. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup indicates faith in that engine. The year rolls out with a busy January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while clearing room for a October build that connects to the Halloween corridor and into November. The program also features the greater integration of indie arms and SVOD players that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and broaden at the strategic time.

A companion trend is brand curation across linked properties and long-running brands. The studios are not just pushing another return. They are shaping as threaded continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that flags a new vibe or a lead change that connects a upcoming film to a vintage era. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the most buzzed-about originals are doubling down on on-set craft, practical effects and site-specific worlds. That mix gives 2026 a solid mix of assurance and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount sets the tone early with two marquee pushes that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the lead, angling it as both a legacy handover and a classic-mode character-forward chapter. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture hints at a legacy-leaning approach without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run built on franchise iconography, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will drive general-audience talk through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever rules genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three unique strategies. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is elegant, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an AI companion that grows into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to recreate odd public stunts and short reels that melds longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a title drop to become an marketing beat closer to the initial tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele projects are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel cinematic on a efficient spend. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror jolt that emphasizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is selling as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around canon, and monster design, elements that can boost premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and period speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The imprint has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform plans for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s horror titles move to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ordering that expands both FOMO and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide entries and select theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library curation, using prominent placements, holiday hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries near launch and eventizing releases with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and swift platform pivots that drives paid trials from buzz. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has signaled readiness to secure select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to earn receipts 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 ramps.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating 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 promise is clear: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, reimagined for modern sound and cinematography. 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 flagged a cinema-first plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, managing the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-first horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception merits. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Known brands versus new stories

By tilt, the 2026 slate bends toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage legacy awareness. The question, as ever, is viewer burnout. The operating solution is to package each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is underscoring character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-accented approach from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add oxygen. 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 island-set survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the bundle is grounded enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Three-year comps illuminate the model. In 2023, a exclusive window model that held distribution windows did not hamper a parallel release from winning when the brand was potent. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to connect the chapters through character web and themes and to keep assets alive without dead zones.

Technique and craft currents

The creative meetings behind this slate hint at a continued turn toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights texture and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the grimmest 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 earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft features before rolling out a tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta reframe that navigate here re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature design and production design, which are ideal for convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that land in premium houses.

Release calendar overview

January is full. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid bigger brand plays. The month concludes 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 real, but the menu of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Q1 into Q2 prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Back half into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-October slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s AI companion evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss push to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance tilts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to dread, founded on Cronin’s tactile craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 residential haunting tale that refracts terror through a child’s flickering point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-scale and name-above-title eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a fresh family snared by old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: closely held. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and ancient menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why this year, why now

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that stalled or recalendared in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and compressed schedules. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, managed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can lead a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will jostle across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the ideal band. 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026, Ready To Roar

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand power where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the screams sell the seats.