Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites age-old dread, a fear soaked shocker, premiering Oct 2025 across leading streamers

An terrifying unearthly suspense story from writer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial dread when unfamiliar people become puppets in a supernatural maze. Going live on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping portrayal of perseverance and archaic horror that will revamp fear-driven cinema this ghoul season. Created by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and claustrophobic feature follows five young adults who wake up locked in a wilderness-bound cabin under the hostile will of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a 2,000-year-old biblical demon. Anticipate to be ensnared by a motion picture ride that integrates intense horror with spiritual backstory, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a classic concept in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is inverted when the malevolences no longer originate from an outside force, but rather from their core. This symbolizes the darkest version of the victims. The result is a emotionally raw moral showdown where the plotline becomes a intense contest between light and darkness.


In a forsaken wilderness, five souls find themselves caught under the ghastly control and grasp of a enigmatic person. As the group becomes paralyzed to break her will, left alone and preyed upon by creatures beyond comprehension, they are compelled to acknowledge their soulful dreads while the clock brutally counts down toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust mounts and ties collapse, requiring each person to question their character and the notion of freedom of choice itself. The consequences magnify with every second, delivering a paranormal ride that weaves together spiritual fright with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to draw upon primal fear, an threat that predates humanity, influencing our weaknesses, and navigating a power that tests the soul when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra needed manifesting something far beyond human desperation. She is oblivious until the spirit seizes her, and that change is harrowing because it is so emotional.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering households worldwide can dive into this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its first trailer, which has seen over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Be sure to catch this mind-warping spiral into evil. Join *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to dive into these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For director insights, director cuts, and promotions straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Modern horror’s watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar integrates old-world possession, art-house nightmares, set against IP aftershocks

Ranging from fight-to-live nightmare stories suffused with old testament echoes all the way to brand-name continuations and focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into the richest as well as tactically planned year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. the big studios bookend the months with established lines, simultaneously subscription platforms flood the fall with emerging auteurs together with archetypal fear. Meanwhile, the art-house flank is fueled by the momentum of a record-setting 2024 festival season. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are disciplined, thus 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium genre swings back

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal sets the tone with a bold swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Steered by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer wanes, the Warner lot delivers the closing chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The ante is higher this round, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The return delves further into myth, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

More contained by design is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Next comes Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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. It is a calculated bet. No bloated mythology. No brand fatigue. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Key Trends

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror resurges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forward View: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The approaching fear season: brand plays, non-franchise titles, together with A packed Calendar engineered for frights

Dek The brand-new terror cycle crowds early with a January bottleneck, then rolls through summer corridors, and deep into the year-end corridor, weaving series momentum, new concepts, and strategic release strategy. Studios and streamers are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that pivot genre titles into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has solidified as the surest swing in studio calendars, a corner that can surge when it performs and still cushion the losses when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year reassured studio brass that efficiently budgeted horror vehicles can command audience talk, the following year kept energy high with director-led heat and unexpected risers. The trend fed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and filmmaker-prestige bets proved there is space for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that carry overseas. The aggregate for 2026 is a run that reads highly synchronized across players, with purposeful groupings, a balance of recognizable IP and original hooks, and a sharpened attention on box-office windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and streaming.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now acts as a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can arrive on nearly any frame, deliver a grabby hook for ad units and TikTok spots, and outperform with crowds that turn out on opening previews and continue through the next pass if the entry hits. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence reflects confidence in that setup. The calendar begins with a thick January corridor, then turns to spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a fall cadence that extends to the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The grid also underscores the expanded integration of boutique distributors and streamers that can nurture a platform play, grow buzz, and move wide at the right moment.

A companion trend is legacy care across shared universes and classic IP. Big banners are not just turning out another next film. They are setting up continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a title design that suggests a recalibrated tone or a casting pivot that links a fresh chapter to a foundational era. At the very same time, the creative leads behind the top original plays are doubling down on practical craft, in-camera effects and distinct locales. That convergence offers the 2026 slate a vital pairing of recognition and surprise, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight releases that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, presenting it as both a succession moment and a back-to-basics character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the tonal posture indicates a fan-service aware approach without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Plan for a rollout driven by signature symbols, intro reveals, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will emphasize. As a summer contrast play, this one will pursue mainstream recognition through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick reframes to whatever dominates horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete bets. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is efficient, somber, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man installs an virtual partner that mutates into a lethal partner. The date sets it at the front of a crowded corridor, with marketing at Universal likely to recreate creepy live activations and quick hits that mixes attachment and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s pictures are treated as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a gritty, practical-effects forward mix can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Expect a blood-and-grime summer horror blast that spotlights foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio books two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a evergreen supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is selling as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both diehards and newcomers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign creative around narrative world, and creature effects, elements that can drive format premiums and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by historical precision and archaic language, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform tactics for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run flow to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video interleaves third-party pickups with global pickups and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library curation, using editorial spots, genre hubs, and programmed rows to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival pickups, timing horror entries near launch and eventizing launches with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a paired of focused cinema runs and accelerated platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has signaled readiness to purchase select projects with award winners or marquee packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly activity when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is crafting check my blog a 2026 runway with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, updated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, curating the rollout through select festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-first horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception merits. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using targeted theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their audience.

Known brands versus new stories

By volume, 2026 favors the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is brand wear. The workable fix is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is spotlighting character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French sensibility from a new voice. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the packaging is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps help explain the method. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not prevent a dual release from working when the brand was powerful. In 2024, auteur craft horror over-performed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they pivot perspective and elevate scope. 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 double feature plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The creative meetings behind the 2026 entries forecast a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that centers texture and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and creates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta pivot that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature design and production design, which play well in fan-con activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that center pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in big rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid marquee brands. The month buttons 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 serious, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Winter into spring tee up summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand energy. 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 backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a slow-reveal plan and limited previews that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s synthetic partner becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the control dynamic shifts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s physical craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting chiller that toys with the fright of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: not yet rated. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-financed and star-led occult chiller.

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 genre lampoon that riffs on hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 breaks out, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new clan caught in older hauntings. Rating: undetermined. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on pure survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving forward. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why this year, why now

Three workable forces drive this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-sequenced in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will stack across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, 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 momentum and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, right-sized allotments, 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 tactility, soundscape, 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 Is Well Positioned

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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, craft precise trailers, lock the reveals, and let the frights sell the seats.