Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives age-old dread, a fear soaked thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on global platforms

One frightening unearthly shockfest from narrative craftsman / director Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an mythic entity when drifters become instruments in a supernatural struggle. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense tale of resistance and age-old darkness that will remodel fear-driven cinema this fall. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and emotionally thick film follows five young adults who come to caught in a secluded dwelling under the malignant control of Kyra, a central character overtaken by a 2,000-year-old religious nightmare. Be prepared to be drawn in by a narrative adventure that blends visceral dread with biblical origins, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a classic fixture in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reversed when the beings no longer come from beyond, but rather deep within. This depicts the grimmest dimension of each of them. The result is a edge-of-seat emotional conflict where the drama becomes a unforgiving clash between heaven and hell.


In a bleak landscape, five adults find themselves caught under the sinister grip and haunting of a unidentified entity. As the victims becomes vulnerable to combat her dominion, exiled and hunted by entities beyond reason, they are made to confront their core terrors while the moments unforgivingly edges forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety surges and friendships crack, urging each soul to reconsider their character and the idea of volition itself. The consequences escalate with every breath, delivering a fear-soaked story that marries otherworldly panic with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dig into instinctual horror, an evil born of forgotten ages, influencing our weaknesses, and exposing a force that threatens selfhood when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant channeling something past sanity. She is clueless until the control shifts, and that turn is bone-chilling because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing customers across the world can be part of this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its intro video, which has received over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, offering the tale to horror fans worldwide.


Do not miss this visceral descent into hell. Join *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to experience these unholy truths about the human condition.


For director insights, filmmaker commentary, and insider scoops directly from production, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across Facebook and TikTok and visit the official website.





Current horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 domestic schedule Mixes myth-forward possession, indie terrors, paired with series shake-ups

Across pressure-cooker survival tales grounded in scriptural legend and onward to IP renewals set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 looks like the richest together with calculated campaign year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. leading studios lock in tentpoles through proven series, in tandem digital services prime the fall with new voices as well as mythic dread. On the festival side, festival-forward creators is drafting behind the backdraft of a record-setting 2024 festival season. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, however this time, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, accordingly 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige terror resurfaces

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal camp leads off the quarter with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. timed 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.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Guided by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner releases the last chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: old school creep, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. This time the stakes climb, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The return delves further into myth, builds out the animatronic fear crew, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, cornering year end horror.

SVOD Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror chamber piece starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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 is canny scheduling. No puffed out backstory. No series drag. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

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

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror season: installments, new stories, in tandem with A stacked Calendar aimed at jolts

Dek: The current horror season builds right away with a January wave, before it carries through summer, and far into the December corridor, fusing brand equity, novel approaches, and calculated calendar placement. The big buyers and platforms are betting on mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that convert horror entries into cross-demo moments.

Horror momentum into 2026

This category has solidified as the steady release in programming grids, a genre that can expand when it breaks through and still buffer the drawdown when it falls short. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that mid-range shockers can lead the discourse, the following year kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and slow-burn breakouts. The upswing flowed into 2025, where revivals and critical darlings proved there is demand for varied styles, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that play globally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the market, with defined corridors, a harmony of legacy names and new packages, and a tightened focus on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now acts as a flex slot on the grid. The genre can kick off on many corridors, supply a clear pitch for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with viewers that arrive on first-look nights and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the title connects. Following a production delay era, the 2026 layout shows comfort in that engine. The year gets underway with a front-loaded January lineup, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while clearing room for a September to October window that stretches into the fright window and into early November. The layout also includes the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and streaming partners that can stage a platform run, fuel WOM, and widen at the strategic time.

An added macro current is IP stewardship across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Studios are not just turning out another sequel. They are setting up continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a refreshed voice or a lead change that reconnects a next entry to a vintage era. At the meanwhile, the auteurs behind the most anticipated originals are returning to hands-on technique, in-camera effects and location-forward worlds. That pairing provides 2026 a lively combination of known notes and unexpected turns, which is how the films export.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent releases that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the heart, signaling it as both a succession moment and a return-to-roots character study. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach suggests a heritage-honoring campaign without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will go after wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format allowing quick turns to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three unique pushes. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man purchases an AI companion that turns into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to recreate uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that melds attachment and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s releases are branded as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a follow-up trailer set that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot offers Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven execution can feel premium on a lean spend. Position this as a gore-forward summer horror charge that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both core fans and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can fuel large-format demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins 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 characterized by rigorous craft and period speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is favorable.

Digital platform strategies

Digital strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s horror titles shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that boosts both launch urgency and sign-up spikes in the late-window. Prime Video pairs licensed titles with global pickups and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library engagement, using editorial spots, horror hubs, and curated rows to sustain interest on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps options open about original films and festival additions, locking in horror entries near their drops and eventizing premieres with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements and fast windowing that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clean: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, recalibrated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday dates to increase reach. That positioning has served the company well for filmmaker-driven genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception allows. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their membership.

Brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage name recognition. The question, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is elevating character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-accented approach from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in his comment is here a survival shocker premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the deal build is steady enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Three-year comps help explain the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that honored streaming windows did not prevent a hybrid test from hitting when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances 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 produced back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to thread films through character and theme and to keep assets alive without long gaps.

Production craft signals

The shop talk behind the 2026 slate telegraph a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights texture and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and technical spotlights before rolling out a tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and earns shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-referential reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature design and production design, which are ideal for expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel necessary. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that land in big rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is busy. 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 foggy reset amid marquee brands. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the menu of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card redemption.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s algorithmic partner evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 difficult boss try to survive on a uninhabited island as the pecking order swivels and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to horror, anchored by Cronin’s hands-on craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that threads the dread through a child’s flickering point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-crafted and name-above-title paranormal 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 spoof revival that riffs on hot-button genre motifs and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. 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: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new household entangled with long-buried horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward true survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: underway. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 antique diction and elemental dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces organize this lineup. First, production that paused or reshuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will line up across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundcraft, and framing 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 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the chills sell the seats.