Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

This terrifying paranormal fear-driven tale from creator / director Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an timeless entity when drifters become tokens in a dark ceremony. Streaming this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing episode of continuance and ancient evil that will resculpt the horror genre this ghoul season. Realized by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and eerie thriller follows five young adults who find themselves sealed in a isolated wooden structure under the oppressive will of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a prehistoric scriptural evil. Anticipate to be absorbed by a motion picture adventure that blends primitive horror with timeless legends, unleashing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a classic theme in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is turned on its head when the spirits no longer emerge externally, but rather inside their minds. This mirrors the malevolent layer of each of them. The result is a relentless psychological battle where the suspense becomes a relentless battle between right and wrong.


In a remote woodland, five friends find themselves imprisoned under the dark grip and curse of a unidentified apparition. As the ensemble becomes vulnerable to fight her curse, abandoned and preyed upon by beings unfathomable, they are driven to wrestle with their emotional phantoms while the time unceasingly counts down toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease intensifies and bonds disintegrate, urging each participant to reconsider their true nature and the idea of personal agency itself. The threat amplify with every breath, delivering a horror experience that integrates otherworldly suspense with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dive into raw dread, an entity that predates humanity, emerging via emotional fractures, and testing a curse that challenges autonomy when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra demanded embodying something past sanity. She is clueless until the control shifts, and that metamorphosis is harrowing because it is so close.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering fans globally can enjoy this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its intro video, which has attracted over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, bringing the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Be sure to catch this visceral path of possession. Confront *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these chilling revelations about the human condition.


For teasers, behind-the-scenes content, and reveals straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie’s homepage.





The horror genre’s sea change: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate braids together archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, set against brand-name tremors

Kicking off with last-stand terror grounded in scriptural legend through to returning series as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 is emerging as the most stratified as well as blueprinted year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios plant stakes across the year through proven series, while platform operators load up the fall with fresh voices plus legend-coded dread. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the carry of 2024’s record festival wave. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, distinctly in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, therefore 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are assertive. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s pipeline kicks off the frame with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. dated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. From director Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: nostalgic menace, trauma driven plotting, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

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, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It opens in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Conceived 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

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

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Signals and Trends

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror returns
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit 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. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Big screen is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Projection: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 genre calendar year ahead: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, plus A jammed Calendar geared toward chills

Dek The arriving scare year crams early with a January cluster, after that spreads through the summer months, and continuing into the holiday frame, blending brand heft, creative pitches, and shrewd calendar placement. Studios with streamers are committing to responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-fueled campaigns that position these offerings into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the sturdy move in annual schedules, a space that can break out when it connects and still limit the downside when it misses. After 2023 showed studio brass that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can dominate mainstream conversation, the following year held pace with festival-darling auteurs and stealth successes. The upswing moved into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers proved there is a lane for several lanes, from series extensions to fresh IP that play globally. The result for the 2026 slate is a programming that is strikingly coherent across studios, with intentional bunching, a balance of legacy names and first-time concepts, and a recommitted commitment on theatrical windows that feed downstream value on paid VOD and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the space now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the grid. Horror can open on virtually any date, deliver a easy sell for marketing and vertical videos, and outstrip with ticket buyers that lean in on previews Thursday and continue through the follow-up frame if the release lands. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 layout shows comfort in that approach. The slate launches with a stacked January corridor, then uses spring and early summer for audience offsets, while reserving space for a October build that runs into the fright window and into early November. The program also reflects the increasing integration of specialized labels and subscription services that can platform a title, generate chatter, and expand at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across unified worlds and established properties. Big banners are not just mounting another continuation. They are trying to present connection with a must-see charge, whether that is a title design that suggests a new tone or a cast configuration that threads a upcoming film to a early run. At the concurrently, the visionaries behind the top original plays are favoring in-camera technique, special makeup and specific settings. That combination hands the 2026 slate a smart balance of comfort and freshness, which is what works overseas.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount marks the early tempo with two spotlight projects that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the spine, presenting it as both a passing of the torch and a origin-leaning character piece. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the narrative stance signals a roots-evoking treatment without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected leaning on recognizable motifs, early character teases, and a promo sequence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counter-slot, this one will go after four-quadrant chatter through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick reframes to whatever tops the discourse that spring.

Universal has three unique projects. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is elegant, melancholic, and premise-first: a grieving man implements an news digital partner that shifts into a killer companion. The date locates it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s marketing likely to revisit eerie street stunts and quick hits that mixes affection and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a name unveil to become an attention spike closer to the early tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s pictures are framed as signature events, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot opens a lane to own 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has made clear that a gritty, makeup-driven strategy can feel top-tier on a efficient spend. Frame it as a red-band summer horror charge that leans into overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio places two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a evergreen supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is presenting as a from-the-ground-up reboot 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 sharper mandate to serve both diehards and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around environmental design, and creature effects, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by obsessive craft and period speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The label has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a pacing that boosts both premiere heat and subscriber lifts in the later window. Prime Video balances licensed films with worldwide buys and limited cinema engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog engagement, using curated hubs, fright rows, and featured rows to stretch the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix remains opportunistic about original films and festival acquisitions, dating horror entries near launch and staging as events premieres with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a laddered of targeted cinema placements and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for retention when the genre conversation surges.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 track with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is straightforward: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has suggested a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the October weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the December frame to scale. That positioning has delivered for craft-driven horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception justifies. 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 ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Balance of brands and originals

By weight, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use cultural cachet. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The practical approach is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is leading with character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and auteur plays supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is assuring enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Recent comps illuminate the method. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not deter a hybrid test from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror exceeded expectations in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they angle differently and expand the canvas. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, lets marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without extended gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The production chatter behind these films hint at a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that elevates aura and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature work and production design, which lend themselves to convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that highlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is loaded. 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 brooding contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late winter and spring load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. 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 cycled through premium screens.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited advance reveals that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads 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: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the pecking order upends and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s material craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting story that my company leverages the horror of a child’s shaky interpretations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-built and marquee-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that riffs on hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated 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 globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further reopens, with a fresh family tethered to older hauntings. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on pure survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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-specific language and primordial menace. Rating: TBD. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces inform this lineup. First, production that decelerated or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and compressed schedules. 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 outpaced straight-to-streaming landings. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, metered scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, smart allocations, 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, sound, and visual design 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

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how movies to deliver 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.