Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, landing Oct 2025 across major streaming services

An hair-raising mystic scare-fest from creator / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an prehistoric curse when newcomers become conduits in a supernatural ceremony. Going live on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing depiction of perseverance and timeless dread that will reimagine scare flicks this Halloween season. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and claustrophobic story follows five unacquainted souls who wake up stranded in a unreachable shelter under the ominous sway of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old sacrosanct terror. Steel yourself to be immersed by a audio-visual event that fuses bodily fright with mystical narratives, unleashing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a legendary motif in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is twisted when the demons no longer come from a different plane, but rather from within. This symbolizes the most terrifying part of the protagonists. The result is a relentless identity crisis where the events becomes a perpetual push-pull between good and evil.


In a haunting no-man's-land, five characters find themselves sealed under the ghastly control and infestation of a unknown character. As the victims becomes helpless to reject her curse, stranded and hunted by entities unfathomable, they are obligated to reckon with their greatest panics while the deathwatch mercilessly winds toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion mounts and alliances erode, prompting each protagonist to evaluate their existence and the foundation of autonomy itself. The hazard magnify with every heartbeat, delivering a nightmarish journey that connects occult fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to awaken core terror, an darkness from prehistory, channeling itself through emotional fractures, and highlighting a being that peels away humanity when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is uninformed until the demon emerges, and that shift is shocking because it is so internal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—providing subscribers around the globe can experience this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has attracted over strong viewer count.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Join this soul-jarring trip into the unknown. Watch *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to witness these unholy truths about free will.


For previews, director cuts, and news from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursed across your socials and visit our film’s homepage.





Modern horror’s inflection point: 2025 across markets U.S. calendar Mixes legend-infused possession, microbudget gut-punches, plus tentpole growls

Moving from pressure-cooker survival tales drawn from ancient scripture and stretching into franchise returns paired with focused festival visions, 2025 is tracking to be the most variegated in tandem with tactically planned year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. major banners plant stakes across the year with franchise anchors, in parallel premium streamers load up the fall with unboxed visions alongside ancient terrors. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the afterglow from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, yet in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are intentional, thus 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal lights the fuse with a big gambit: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. Directed by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. 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 delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Guided by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, the Warner Bros. banner rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma explicitly handled, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This run ups the stakes, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, stretches the animatronic parade, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Offerings: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. From writer director 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, from Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

What to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror resurges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Projection: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to 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. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The 2026 terror season: brand plays, universe starters, together with A busy Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The new scare year builds at the outset with a January traffic jam, then runs through midyear, and carrying into the winter holidays, mixing marquee clout, original angles, and tactical counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are committing to responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that turn genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has established itself as the predictable release in studio lineups, a genre that can scale when it hits and still protect the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 demonstrated to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The trend moved into the 2025 frame, where reboots and awards-minded projects signaled there is appetite for varied styles, from continued chapters to director-led originals that carry overseas. The upshot for 2026 is a run that appears tightly organized across the market, with defined corridors, a pairing of established brands and original hooks, and a reinvigorated stance on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium on-demand and streaming.

Studio leaders note the genre now serves as a plug-and-play option on the grid. The genre can roll out on a wide range of weekends, furnish a grabby hook for creative and reels, and punch above weight with crowds that show up on Thursday nights and stay strong through the next pass if the release works. On the heels of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 configuration signals comfort in that approach. The slate starts with a loaded January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that reaches into late October and past the holiday. The layout also shows the greater integration of boutique distributors and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, create conversation, and go nationwide at the precise moment.

An added macro current is brand strategy across connected story worlds and heritage properties. The companies are not just greenlighting another installment. They are working to present lineage with a must-see charge, whether that is a title design that telegraphs a tonal shift or a cast configuration that threads a next entry to a early run. At the very same time, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are prioritizing practical craft, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That convergence yields the 2026 slate a healthy mix of known notes and novelty, which is how the films export.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece moves that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, marketing it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a classic-referencing framework without covering again the last two entries’ sisters thread. Watch for a push leaning on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a tease cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on movies June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will stress. As a summer alternative, this one will drive mainstream recognition through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick reframes to whatever shapes horror talk that spring.

Universal has three unique plays. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is tight, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man sets up an algorithmic mate that shifts into a harmful mate. The date places it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the studio’s marketing likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and short reels that blurs attachment and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title reveal to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s releases are sold as signature events, with a concept-forward tease and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, hands-on effects aesthetic can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a hard-R summer horror blast that emphasizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

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

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is calling a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both fans and general audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build artifacts around lore, and creature design, elements that can stoke large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by minute detail and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is favorable.

Digital platform strategies

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s horror titles shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that amplifies both first-week urgency and trial spikes in the downstream. Prime Video interleaves catalogue additions with global originals and small theatrical windows when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library curation, using in-app campaigns, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix keeps options open about own-slate titles and festival deals, timing horror entries on shorter runways and eventizing rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of precision theatrical plays and speedy platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a situational basis. The platform has shown appetite to buy select projects with name filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 arc with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, refined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has proved effective for arthouse horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception prompts. Anticipate 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 jointly, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Known brands versus new stories

By share, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The watch-out, as ever, is brand erosion. The standing approach is to pitch each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is bringing forward core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a Francophone tone from a hot helmer. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the packaging is comforting enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Recent comps announce the playbook. In 2023, a cinema-first model that honored streaming windows did not preclude a dual release from paying off when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to cross-link entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

Production craft signals

The director conversations behind the 2026 entries indicate a continued preference for material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights creep and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for textured sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead features and department features before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta refresh that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for fan-con activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that accent razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the palette of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited plot reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s synthetic partner becomes something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a altering 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 work to survive on a rugged island as the control balance upends and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, shaped by Cronin’s material craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting premise that toys with the unease of a child’s uncertain point of view. Rating: to be announced. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody return that satirizes today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 spreads, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a fresh family linked to long-buried horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for classic survival-horror tone over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: pending. Production: in progress. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 elemental fear. Rating: undetermined. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces frame this lineup. First, production that paused or shifted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

There is also the slotting calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will coexist across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 cost-efficient 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sound field, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand equity where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, cut crisp trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.