Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases age-old dread, a pulse pounding chiller, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

A frightening occult fright fest from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an mythic terror when outsiders become puppets in a malevolent maze. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching saga of perseverance and mythic evil that will remodel scare flicks this fall. Realized by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and shadowy thriller follows five people who are stirred isolated in a remote dwelling under the dark manipulation of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old biblical force. Anticipate to be absorbed by a narrative spectacle that fuses instinctive fear with ancestral stories, premiering on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a recurring pillar in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is reimagined when the spirits no longer form outside their bodies, but rather from deep inside. This echoes the most hidden facet of all involved. The result is a intense mind game where the suspense becomes a merciless conflict between virtue and vice.


In a barren wilderness, five characters find themselves confined under the malicious rule and haunting of a unknown person. As the youths becomes powerless to combat her control, isolated and preyed upon by forces unnamable, they are pushed to reckon with their deepest fears while the time brutally ticks onward toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and teams fracture, pushing each cast member to reflect on their personhood and the principle of volition itself. The stakes amplify with every tick, delivering a terror ride that fuses unearthly horror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to awaken primal fear, an entity beyond time, channeling itself through emotional vulnerability, and testing a entity that redefines identity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra asked for exploring something more primal than sorrow. She is blind until the takeover begins, and that change is gut-wrenching because it is so emotional.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—delivering streamers internationally can face this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first preview, which has gathered over strong viewer count.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, making the film to a worldwide audience.


Experience this mind-warping journey into fear. Explore *Young & Cursed* this launch day to acknowledge these unholy truths about existence.


For previews, production news, and reveals from the creators, follow @YACFilm across entertainment pages and visit our spooky domain.





U.S. horror’s decisive shift: 2025 for genre fans American release plan interlaces Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, and tentpole growls

Kicking off with fight-to-live nightmare stories grounded in ancient scripture through to installment follow-ups together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like the most variegated along with deliberate year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses bookend the months with franchise anchors, as SVOD players prime the fall with emerging auteurs as well as primordial unease. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is riding the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, however this time, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are methodical, so 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures begins the calendar with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. Guided by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. timed for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Steered by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. Pictures rolls out the capstone within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retro dread, trauma foregrounded, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, pinning the winter close.

Digital Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. 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 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy IP: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Key Trends

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

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 spook calendar year ahead: brand plays, universe starters, as well as A hectic Calendar tailored for chills

Dek: The fresh terror calendar crams from the jump with a January traffic jam, before it stretches through the mid-year, and well into the holidays, combining legacy muscle, inventive spins, and strategic counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are prioritizing responsible budgets, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that pivot these films into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror filmmaking has become the consistent move in studio calendars, a pillar that can expand when it catches and still hedge the floor when it under-delivers. After 2023 demonstrated to executives that responsibly budgeted shockers can drive the national conversation, 2024 maintained heat with festival-darling auteurs and surprise hits. The head of steam translated to 2025, where resurrections and awards-minded projects proved there is a market for a spectrum, from legacy continuations to non-IP projects that play globally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a grid that seems notably aligned across studios, with planned clusters, a pairing of marquee IP and new packages, and a recommitted stance on cinema windows that feed downstream value on premium home window and home platforms.

Marketers add the category now works like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can launch on virtually any date, offer a simple premise for trailers and reels, and outperform with audiences that appear on previews Thursday and stick through the next pass if the release works. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration reflects certainty in that engine. The slate commences with a heavy January band, then targets spring into early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a October build that pushes into Halloween and into the next week. The layout also reflects the increasing integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, build word of mouth, and broaden at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and storied titles. Big banners are not just pushing another continuation. They are aiming to frame brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a refreshed voice or a lead change that anchors a next entry to a early run. At the parallel to that, the directors behind the most buzzed-about originals are leaning into on-set craft, practical gags and site-specific worlds. That convergence yields the 2026 slate a strong blend of trust and freshness, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount fires first with two front-of-slate releases that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach hints at a roots-evoking mode without retreading the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Plan for a rollout fueled by iconic art, first images of characters, and a promo sequence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also dusts off 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 as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will build broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate plays. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is tidy, tragic, and logline-clear: a grieving man implements an machine companion that grows into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a busy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to bring back odd public stunts and short reels that threads intimacy and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a public title to become an attention spike closer to the first look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s pictures are positioned as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The pre-Halloween slot gives 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, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, practical-first aesthetic can feel top-tier on a tight budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror surge that emphasizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio books two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is calling a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both franchise faithful and curious audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build assets around canon, and creature builds, elements that can stoke PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by immersive craft and language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus Features has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on familiar rails. The studio’s horror films shift to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a tiered path that amplifies both first-week urgency and sub growth in the downstream. Prime Video stitches together outside acquisitions with global acquisitions and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in deep cuts, using curated hubs, spooky hubs, and featured rows to extend momentum on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival grabs, securing horror entries on shorter runways and coalescing around drops with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of targeted theatrical exposure and fast windowing that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a discrete basis. The platform has indicated interest to take on select projects with top-tier auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 lane with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is no-nonsense: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, updated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late-season weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday corridor to scale. That positioning has shown results for arthouse horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception justifies. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By weight, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage fan equity. The concern, as ever, is brand erosion. The pragmatic answer is to present each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is centering core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-inflected take from a hot helmer. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and visionary-led titles deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the team and cast is assuring enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Past-three-year patterns clarify the model. In 2023, a theater-first model that respected streaming windows did not deter a hybrid test from paying off when the brand was powerful. In 2024, precision craft horror punched above its weight in large-format rooms. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reframe POV and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The production chatter behind the upcoming entries hint at a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that check over here foregrounds creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and produces shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in fan-con activations and managed asset releases. 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.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid heavier IP. 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 tonal variety opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can win the holiday when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s algorithmic partner mutates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 severe boss claw to survive on a remote island as the power balance reverses and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating 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 home-set haunting setup that threads the dread through a preteen’s unsteady personal vantage. Rating: TBD. Production: post-ready. Positioning: major-studio and headline-actor led supernatural 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 skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 global twist in have a peek at these guys tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family anchored to lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survivalist horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. 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 language and ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026, why now

Three execution-level forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly 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 Source launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate repeatable beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can command a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, 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 ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 search for sleepers 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first quiet 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, and imagery 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the gasps sell the seats.