Primeval Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 across major platforms

An blood-curdling otherworldly terror film from narrative craftsman / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an prehistoric force when newcomers become pawns in a diabolical experiment. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking depiction of living through and mythic evil that will reshape terror storytelling this spooky time. Produced by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and eerie film follows five strangers who find themselves sealed in a secluded shack under the oppressive grip of Kyra, a young woman possessed by a legendary holy text monster. Get ready to be seized by a audio-visual spectacle that merges intense horror with biblical origins, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a recurring pillar in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is flipped when the demons no longer come from elsewhere, but rather inside their minds. This marks the most hidden facet of the group. The result is a emotionally raw cognitive warzone where the tension becomes a relentless struggle between innocence and sin.


In a unforgiving natural abyss, five individuals find themselves stuck under the evil grip and inhabitation of a shadowy entity. As the team becomes paralyzed to fight her manipulation, isolated and preyed upon by entities indescribable, they are cornered to wrestle with their worst nightmares while the seconds unceasingly runs out toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia grows and bonds dissolve, pushing each cast member to challenge their identity and the idea of self-determination itself. The threat climb with every passing moment, delivering a horror experience that fuses occult fear with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to evoke core terror, an darkness before modern man, manipulating our weaknesses, and challenging a being that dismantles free will when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra involved tapping into something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the demon emerges, and that change is eerie because it is so close.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing users globally can dive into this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has received over six-figure audience.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, giving access to the movie to horror fans worldwide.


Don’t miss this cinematic path of possession. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to dive into these terrifying truths about the soul.


For sneak peeks, extra content, and announcements straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit the official website.





U.S. horror’s watershed moment: calendar year 2025 American release plan braids together Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, stacked beside franchise surges

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare drawn from old testament echoes as well as installment follow-ups set beside incisive indie visions, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured as well as calculated campaign year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses stabilize the year through proven series, in parallel platform operators front-load the fall with discovery plays set against mythic dread. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is drafting behind the kinetic energy of a peak 2024 circuit. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A fat September–October lane is customary now, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are intentional, which means 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium dread reemerges

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, instead in a current-day frame. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Slated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. Pictures launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, 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. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: 70s style chill, trauma foregrounded, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: No Budget, No Problem

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a lock for fall streaming.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. From writer director 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.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated mythology. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

From Festivals to Market

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

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 piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror comes roaring back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Season Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new spook lineup: Sequels, fresh concepts, And A loaded Calendar Built For goosebumps

Dek: The new scare year clusters right away with a January logjam, then runs through midyear, and deep into the holidays, combining marquee clout, inventive spins, and shrewd counterplay. The major players are doubling down on tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that turn these pictures into water-cooler talk.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the predictable counterweight in release strategies, a genre that can surge when it breaks through and still hedge the drawdown when it does not. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that mid-range scare machines can drive the discourse, 2024 held pace with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind extended into 2025, where legacy revivals and premium-leaning entries showed there is appetite for several lanes, from continued chapters to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that is strikingly coherent across the field, with purposeful groupings, a balance of familiar brands and new concepts, and a reinvigorated strategy on cinema windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital rental and OTT platforms.

Distribution heads claim the category now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the calendar. The genre can premiere on numerous frames, yield a clean hook for ad units and vertical videos, and over-index with fans that turn out on first-look nights and stick through the second frame if the entry lands. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 layout shows certainty in that equation. The slate commences with a stacked January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that flows toward the fright window and past the holiday. The program also features the ongoing integration of specialty distributors and streamers that can launch in limited release, build word of mouth, and scale up at the timely point.

An added macro current is legacy care across shared IP webs and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just releasing another continuation. They are aiming to frame connection with a must-see charge, whether that is a art treatment that broadcasts a new vibe or a casting pivot that threads a new entry to a first wave. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the top original plays are prioritizing hands-on technique, in-camera effects and location-forward worlds. That convergence hands 2026 a smart balance of recognition and invention, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount marks the early tempo with two high-profile bets that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the focus, steering it as both a passing of the torch and a foundation-forward character piece. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the story approach indicates a fan-service aware approach without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Plan for a rollout rooted in signature symbols, intro reveals, and a tiered teaser plan hitting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also revives 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three clear lanes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, melancholic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man brings home an AI companion that grows into a dangerous lover. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s team likely to renew uncanny live moments and quick hits that hybridizes affection and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a final title to become an earned moment closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot imp source he has excelled in before. Peele’s pictures are branded as auteur events, with a teaser that reveals little and a subsequent trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor affords Universal to take 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, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has proven that a flesh-and-blood, on-set effects led strategy can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror shock that leans into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio lines up two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a bankable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is presenting as a reimagined restart 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 fans and newcomers. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around environmental design, and practical creature work, elements that can increase premium screens and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by meticulous craft and period language, this time driven by werewolf stories. The label has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is glowing.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on known playbooks. The studio’s horror films shift to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a sequence that fortifies both week-one demand and sub growth in the later phase. Prime Video interleaves third-party pickups with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library curation, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and curated rows to sustain interest on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about first-party entries and festival additions, finalizing horror entries near launch and making event-like arrivals with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a one-two of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to board select projects with top-tier auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation intensifies.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 corridor with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is simple: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, modernized for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, managing the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the year-end corridor to open out. That positioning has worked well for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception merits. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using limited theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Balance of brands and originals

By share, 2026 favors the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is underscoring relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French sensibility from a hot helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the configuration is recognizable enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

Three-year comps illuminate the plan. In 2023, a cinema-first model that maintained windows did not block a simultaneous release test from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel new when they alter lens and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through character and theme and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

How the films are being made

The shop talk behind this year’s genre hint at a continued lean toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that emphasizes creep and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster realization and design, which favor con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that spotlight surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

How the year maps out

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 tonal palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the mix of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Winter into spring seed summer. Scream 7 comes 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 home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder season window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited advance reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s synthetic partner mutates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 unyielding boss struggle to survive on a far-flung island as the hierarchy reverses and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s practical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting piece that manipulates the fright of a child’s wobbly interpretations. Rating: to be announced. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A genre lampoon that riffs on present-day genre chatter and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. 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 ignites, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a different family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A restart designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and primordial menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or reshuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured 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 drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will share space across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience journey through the year

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

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, aural 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.

A Promising 2026

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.