Antediluvian Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding chiller, rolling out October 2025 on global platforms

This bone-chilling spectral scare-fest from writer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic malevolence when unfamiliar people become victims in a diabolical game. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving account of living through and primordial malevolence that will resculpt genre cinema this October. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and tone-heavy motion picture follows five young adults who are stirred confined in a off-grid shack under the oppressive will of Kyra, a cursed figure haunted by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Ready yourself to be shaken by a audio-visual adventure that blends raw fear with legendary tales, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a recurring narrative in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the monsters no longer form from elsewhere, but rather deep within. This echoes the most hidden dimension of all involved. The result is a riveting mind game where the tension becomes a soul-crushing fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a wilderness-stricken backcountry, five souls find themselves caught under the fiendish grip and overtake of a uncanny female presence. As the characters becomes submissive to resist her dominion, disconnected and tormented by entities unfathomable, they are thrust to wrestle with their inner horrors while the doomsday meter mercilessly winds toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust surges and ties disintegrate, compelling each figure to reconsider their core and the foundation of volition itself. The tension escalate with every fleeting time, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that merges spiritual fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to dig into primal fear, an power older than civilization itself, working through inner turmoil, and testing a darkness that strips down our being when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra needed manifesting something beneath mortal despair. She is unaware until the demon emerges, and that shift is bone-chilling because it is so emotional.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure watchers globally can engage with this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first trailer, which has earned over massive response.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, presenting the nightmare to a global viewership.


Be sure to catch this unforgettable voyage through terror. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to witness these fearful discoveries about the soul.


For behind-the-scenes access, special features, and news from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursed across platforms and visit the movie portal.





Horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate melds biblical-possession ideas, underground frights, together with tentpole growls

Spanning fight-to-live nightmare stories saturated with ancient scripture and onward to brand-name continuations as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the most complex combined with calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. Major studios hold down the year via recognizable brands, even as streaming platforms load up the fall with new voices and ancestral chills. On the independent axis, the artisan tier is carried on the echoes of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the other windows are mapped with care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal banner fires the first shot with a risk-forward move: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. set for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Directed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. While the template is known, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. The bar is raised this go, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It drops in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a room scale body horror descent starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 clever angle. No overinflated mythology. No sequel clutter. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are more runway than museum.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Emerging Currents

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. 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 mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The oncoming spook lineup: entries, fresh concepts, paired with A jammed Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek The emerging horror cycle loads in short order with a January glut, thereafter extends through summer corridors, and far into the late-year period, mixing brand heft, inventive spins, and data-minded counterplay. The major players are doubling down on mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that frame genre releases into national conversation.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has turned into the steady swing in release plans, a lane that can expand when it hits and still hedge the exposure when it falls short. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that cost-conscious horror vehicles can shape the discourse, 2024 carried the beat with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The head of steam carried into 2025, where revivals and premium-leaning entries demonstrated there is demand for multiple flavors, from series extensions to standalone ideas that export nicely. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the market, with clear date clusters, a mix of known properties and original hooks, and a recommitted strategy on theater exclusivity that boost PVOD and platform value on premium video on demand and home streaming.

Buyers contend the horror lane now operates like a swing piece on the schedule. Horror can launch on nearly any frame, yield a easy sell for teasers and social clips, and lead with patrons that arrive on first-look nights and sustain through the second weekend if the title fires. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan underscores belief in that equation. The slate starts with a weighty January stretch, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that extends to the fright window and into November. The schedule also includes the tightening integration of indie distributors and streaming partners that can platform a title, spark evangelism, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across shared IP webs and veteran brands. Big banners are not just producing another sequel. They are setting up threaded continuity with a occasion, whether that is a graphic identity that flags a refreshed voice or a casting choice that anchors a new entry to a first wave. At the simultaneously, the creative teams behind the most watched originals are favoring on-set craft, makeup and prosthetics and site-specific worlds. That interplay delivers 2026 a confident blend of trust and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two marquee bets that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a legacy-leaning framework without rehashing the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, character previews, and a tease cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will seek wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is tidy, heartbroken, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man adopts an machine companion that escalates into a fatal companion. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to replay strange in-person beats and micro spots that interlaces longing and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under development 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 leaves room for a proper title to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s work are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning mix can feel top-tier on a efficient spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror jolt that spotlights international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, sustaining a proven supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is billing as a clean-slate approach 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 directive to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around lore, and creature design, elements that can amplify format premiums and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants 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 driven by historical precision and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is favorable.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. The studio’s horror films transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that optimizes both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library curation, using in-app campaigns, fright rows, and featured rows to stretch the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix films and festival buys, confirming horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a staged of targeted theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical 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 bespoke basis. The platform has shown appetite to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 pipeline with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated 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 signaled a theatrical-first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday frame to broaden. That positioning has delivered 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 fair assumption is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception justifies. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using limited runs to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to sell each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is spotlighting character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a continental coloration from a hot helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is anchored enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the model. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not foreclose a dual release from winning when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror popped in premium large format. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 entries signal a continued preference for hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that elevates unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in trade spotlights and department features before rolling out a initial teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which align with convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that shine in top rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is stacked. 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 bigger brand plays. The month ends 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 credible, but the range of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that trade in concept over detail.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s algorithmic partner mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for get redirected here 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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: ambience-forward adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss struggle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting tale that routes the horror through a youth’s shifting internal vantage. Rating: TBA. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-supported 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 re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that lampoons present-day genre chatter and true crime preoccupations. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing scheduled 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 surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family bound to older hauntings. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on time-true diction and elemental dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three practical forces define this lineup. First, production that decelerated or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will cluster across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, disciplined footprints, 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 tactility, audio design, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.